
Glass ^_^ ___o 



0: 



SIXTEEN YEARS' 



PREACHING lAND PROCEDUEE 



WAREHAM, MS., 



REV. SAMUEL NOTT, JR 



WITH A REPRINT OF THE 



MEMORIAL, LEGAL OPINION, AND RESULT OE EX PARTE COUNCIL, 



LAID BEFORE THE MUTUAL COUNCIL, SEPT. 23, 1845, 



BOSTON: 

CHARLES TAPPAN, 114 WASHINGTON ST. 

1845. 






/if'/ 



r- 






INTRODUCTORY. 



1. The printed Memorial, Legal Opinion, and Result of Ex Parte Council, 
have made it indispensable to print these documents. Happily, I have no 
need to attempt a defence. These documents are my deeds, and carry 
with them their own explanations. The summary, in part, at pp. 172, 173, 
and three or four extracts from the Memorial, may assist comparison. I 
leave to the diligent curiosity of the reader the numerous foot notes, as I do 
to his candor, to conclude that many things not explained at all, cannot be, 
as they are made to appear. When I read in the Memorial what I have 
said, I cannot be too thankful that I have "said " almost nothing ; and that 
the mistaken statements of written documents with which the Memorial 
abounds make it the fairest possible conclusion, that the reports of fugitiv.e 
words are likely to be as wide of the mark. With no other defence than 
the cotemporary documents contain, I leave the Memorial, Legal Opinion, 
and Result of Ex Parte Council, as a trio of " unaccountables," most fit- 
tingly united, side by side" with these declaratory acts, under the same cat- 
egory as I found the charges of 1838, with scarcely more need to vindicate 
myself than if the three documents united in pronouncing me of the bodily 
stature of three feet ten ! 

2. Besides the necessity, I have a right to the convenience of this pam- 
phlet, to prevent, once for all, the occasion of speaking or writing of matters 

forced so extensively before the public Especially should that come 

to pass, which they say always does, in such cases, I choose to stand before 
the churches precisely as I am ; and if I cannot, with these papers in my 
hand, find place as a Christian pastor, then shall they be the explanation, 
both why I am cast out, and why I am kept out, of the ministry, to which 
I have been sincerely, earnestly, and, I have hoped, in some humble sense, 
faithfully devoted. And if the churches have nothing for me to do, I will 
do the best I can to find something to do myself, which shall not be unwor- 
thy of the closing life of a Christian missionary and minister. 

3. These papers will not be useless, if they teach the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, 
in his efforts for the "promotion of peace and love," under his singular 
but " greatest sacrifice," that of "having anything to do in allaying the 
spirit of variance," that the offices of arbiter and advocate are not fittingly 
united in the same person ; and that, if they were, it is as unsafe to under- 
take a cause before he knows it, as it is " prelatic " to put a clerical brother 
under his terms of non-interference.* ... A Christian minister is, no doubt, 
bound to be the noble-minded advocate of oppressed churches or church 
members, cfter he has taken all needful pains to learn if they are indeed 
oppressed ; but, alas! for the churches, when each minister shall feel him- 

* See Correspondence, pp. 147, 148. 



IV 

self at liberty, like a hireling advocate, to choose his side, before he has taken 
all due pains to know both sides. 

I commend these papers also to the members of the ex parte council of 
April, 1844, and to their ten almost sustainers of September, 1845, in the 
hope that they will wonder at themselves for having so unaccountably abet- 
ted unaccountable declarations and proceedings ; and that they will render 
their unfeigned thanksgivings to the overruling Providence, which has 
prevented their decisions, and almost decisions, from taking effect — from 
being exalted into precedents for the ruin of all ecclesiastical order, and all 
sound morality in this Commonwealth, and in New England. 

As to the Legal Opinion, let it have whatever apology may belong to 
an opinion of lawyers for their clients; but let no one do "my learned 
friends" the injustice to suppose that judge Eddy or judge Coffin could 
possibly have uttered it, as a judicial opinion from the bench, with all the 
evidence in full dimensions before the court — could have thus weighed, in 
the even scales of justice. 

4. In these personal and local matters, I come before the public only by 
constraint. But coming thus, I hope to render some public service. In a 
sense, these matters are not personal and local. They concern all churches, 
parishes, ministers and councils in Massachusetts and New England. In 
these changing times, — this long history, these careful and deliberate discus- 
sions, cannot be without some general interest and value ; they cannot but 
prompt inquiry and reflection — cannot but aid in unfolding and establishing 
the principles on which our religious welfare depends. There is a right 
and a wrong, a true and a false, a reasonable and an absurd, in ecclesias- 
tical, as well as in all human affairs; in dismissing ministers, as well as in 
the common business of life. Church members have no " dispensation" from 
the obligations of truth and righteousness ; no "license" for making first the 
strife which needs a false peace, and then the false peace to end it ; for 
" doing evil that good may come." Nor may the " churches" in ecclesias- 
tical council assembled, regulate their decisions by mere time-sprving 
calculations, of what will make peace and promote usefulness, by the rules 
of prudence and expediency which an unbelieving foresight adopts ; but 
by steadfast adherence to what is true and right, as the only method of 
durable prosperity. " In His days shall the righteous flourish, and abun- 
dance of peace, so long as the mobn endureth." 

I believe it will appear to whoever shall read these papers, and the works 
therein referred to, that I am no opposer of revivals. But I trust it will 
appear how deeply I feel that popular views of revivals need to be corrected — 
that true revivals are hindered, not promoted by our human limitations of 
time, and place, and circumstance* — that they must be aided by the acknowl- 
edgment of the EVER-PRESENT SpiRiT, of Icssous of faith beside all the 
paths of life, and of the intention and value of permanent methods and 
ordinances These principles I have attempted to urge in former pub- 
lications ; and I shall think the inconvenience of my position, or of the 
dismission which may be at hand, of small account, if I may aid thereby 
the diffusion and establishment of principles on which the success of the 
gospel at home and abroad so much depends. The popular mistakes are 
likely to land us in the torpidity of former times; and nothing will prevent 
it but a juster apprehension of the true mission of the divine Spirit — of 
the privilege and the danger under the " gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent 
down from heaven." 



* See pp. 6, 7, 20; and £4, 85. 



PREACHING AND PEOCEDURE. 



FIRST PERIOD— FROM MAY, 1829, TO MAY, 1834. 

Extract from Mr. Nott's Sermon, May 3, 1829, his first Sahhatli in 

Wareham. 

" As truly as Immanuel, God with us, ever visited our world ; as 
truly as ever Jesus passed along through the towns and villages of Ju- 
dea, so truly is the Holy Spirit now visiting our world, our country, our 
town^— nay, this house of God ! Nor can I m^ore fully believe that 
Jesus sat in the synagogue of Nazareth, walked in the porch of Solo- 
mon, stood by the pool of Bethesda, or over the grave of Lazarus, than 
I believe that the Holy Comforter is here! that he has entered this 
town, and this house of God ! 

*' Yes, he is here, waiting to be gracious. He is ready to visit every 
house which will open its doors to receive him ; to visit every heart 
which is willing to be the subject of his power. He knocks at every 
heart. He offers himself as the inmate of every bosom. And in the 
name of Him, through whom this blessing descends to mankind, I pub- 
lish to you these glad tidings, and say, as he said to his disciples, 'Ask, 
and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.' " * 

FROM THE "observer OF THE TIMES." t 

New Year, 1832. ■ •• 

" The commencement of the year 1831 was marked, in the immedi- 
ate sphere of the writer, with such scenes of religious interest as would 
ever make it memorable, if he had not seen the like in other places 
and heard from every part of our land of the progress of our exalted 

Redeemer We confess that, amidst the rapid and extended 

— liij 

* See Sermons on Public Worship, p. 201. 

t See Letter to Church Members, August 3, 1838. 

2 



blessing of the past year, we have sometimes been in haste to con- 
clude The time has come! not merely for a sovereign gift of the Spirit, 
hut for the lesson of ages to become ripened — for the word of God to 
convert the world, enforced by all the events of human story, and ap- 
plied by that heavenly Agent, striving in all ages, even until now. . . . 
Such a time will come, casting all former revivals into the shade, and 
so plainly the result of ages of discipline and experience as will make 
the immediate instruments cast away their honors amidst grateful re- 
collections and praise, while they see a nation born in a day." 

January 21, 1832. 

*' What has been called the revival spirit, is an advance from the 
narrow views and efforts of former times. Yet it has this defect, or 
rather, until the year 1832, it has had this defect, namely, that it has 
been confined to the time, place, and circumstance of a special occasion. 
We have broken forth upon the pagan world without regard to time, 
place, or circumstance ; going every where and any where, preaching 
the word ; attempting, expecting, and receiving great things. But at 
home, our best efforts and prayers have been confined to the spot of 
some special visitation, and within the time of a special balf or quarter 

of a year ! after which we have quietly waited the Lord's time ! 

Amidst the rising or lingering sympathies of a general reviv^, the Ob- 
server of the Times should join the chorus of the great company abroad, 
and call upon the churches, not for a few weeks of burning zeal in 
place after place, but for attempt and expectation, unceasing and grow- 
ing, until it pauses in a universal conversion When the at- 
tempt and expectation which mark a revival cease, the local church is 
guilty of just such disobedience and unbelief as would be chargeable 
on us if we were now to withdraw from the missionary service ; and of 
just such inconsistency as if we were to be discouraged from the work 

by great and growing success Who can tell what would result 

in our home circles, from attempt and expectation, unrestrained by re- 
gard to time, and place, and circumstance ? Who will dare to 

say that a new development of grace might not speedily be made, at 
home, as remarkable as that which we have seen abroad? " 

January 28, 1832. 

" We see not our way to any extended reformation except by means 
of greater worth on the part of individuals and a greater number of 

such individuals in the country. — Dr. Chalmers On the other 

hand, if there be not greater worth on the part of individuals and the 
number of such individuals bear not a much larger proportion to the 
mass of approved disciples ...... if the steady labor be left upon the 

hands of a few, of a very few, and the mass of professed Christians 
allowedly retire from the work all but a sixth, or a tenth, or a twenti- 
eth of the time, it requires no great sagacity to predict the result. The 
present race of Christians, being called to reap the ripened harvest of 

the world will have proved as a bodyunworthy of their high calling 

A few will be found, as in the darkest times, to keep alive and increase 
the light which will hereafter illumine the whole world; and again, for 



a season, the hopes of sinful and suffering humanity must wait for a 
race of Christians who will arise and shine when the glory of the Lord 
is risen ujpon them." 

June, 1832. 

" But the prospects of the age rest upon another question, — whether 
what has been hitherto isolated and single in the moral history of the 
world can be adopted into the general character — can become thV- tone 

of a prosperous, enterprising, and successful church What 

wonders will arise .... when the purity of Nathanael, the prayerful- 
ness of Daniel, the humble enterprise of Paul, the love of John, be- 
come the tone of a prosperous and growing church." 

** The world is to be saved by no new discovery, or plan, or device. 
Spring and summer return every year in the old-fashioned way ; and 
when, at length, the church shall look up and see verdure and beauty 
covering the moral world around the whole circumference of the globe, 
she will take up the old-fashioned song, which fell from the dying lips 
of Moses : ' My doctrine drops as the rain and distils as the dew, as 
the small rain upon the tender grass, and as showers that water the 
earth.' " 

, September 1, 1832. 

"Religion, to a fearful extent in the church, is a matter of times 
and seasons, without a stay, except in a sympathizing community, de- 
clining from its warmth and vigor when the tide of anxiety without 
ebbs again. Her ' goodness ' comes over her sometimes, in all the 
freshness and fragrance of the morning ; then vanishes suddenly, like 
the morning cloud and the early dew. What else, even in the church, 
can ensue but barrenness and death, unless a more thorough repent- 
ance be awaked, unless we flourish in a more enduring revival 

Nothing will save us who are within the church but a personal religion, 
an actual keeping of covenant with God, an enduring to the end." 

February 8, 1833. 

*' Let us not be too sure that matters will go on as they have done — 
that the churches will continue to have their allowed declensions, and 
yet their renewed and repeated revivals. On the other hand, who does 
not see that the allowance of declensions must root out the revivals 
themselves ? We know not where we are in the history of revi- 
vals. We may be nearer than we think to that dreaded period of 
which all the past forewarns, when they shall cease. Can revivals 
come up much longer out of allowed neglect? Or will the community 
continue to hp awed and influenced by each new revival, when even a 
child's memory can tell how fleeting is that zeal, how little marvellous 
that light I " 

March 23, 1833. 

** When these things really take place — when God manifests and 
multitudes welcome his power and grace, then we have but a specimen of 



8 

■ It ■ 

the opportunity which was before, and will continue afterwards. Pen- 
tecost, with which revivals are often compared, was afrst specimen, 

and not a single display of the grace of our exalted Saviour It was 

the outbreaking of a fountain which would never run out, to which, in 
all ages, the multitude is called in those ancient terms : * If any man 
thirst, let him come unto me and drink.' ' Whosoever shall call upon 
the name of the Lord shall be saved.' When that blessed day was over, 
the apostles continued their urgency, God his grace, and men their 
earnest application, and multitudes were added to the church daily of 
such as should be saved." 

*' We have often said to the disciples of a revival, * If we knew you 
were converted we would not tell you.' It is a hindrance to have 
one's decision stamped immediately with the approbation of the whole 
circle of the pious. If the seal be misplaced, it may prevent a decision 
which might otherwise have been formed. If the seal be not mis- 
placed, it may hinder a renewed and growing decision. It is well to 
be left unsustained by the opmions of man, if by that means your 
conversion may be more sure, or you may more readily grow to the 
stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus. ..... Alas ! how many have 

been hindered or destroyed by self- approbation or applause, preiventing 
or perverting their repentance." 

Extract from " Sermons from the Fowls of the Air,^' Sfc, 1834. 

" If the pulpit and the religious press would render their proper ser- 
vice in the production and nurture of faith, it must be not so much by 
the powder of their own immediate lessons, and of their own peculiar 
opportunity, as by directing attention to the lessons which remain ; 
by which God gives line upon line, precept upon precept, beside the 
common path of life. And, on the other hand, must they be in fault, 
in so far as they adopt principles or employ methods which divert at- 
tention from the various appeals which God is constantly making to the 
conscience and the heart of man ; which leave a vacancy of inspired 
instruction, and silence the full and glorious gospel, })eside the path of 
life, where God appointed it to be heard." 

'* There may be reasons for an ineffectual gospel besides the general 
corruption of mankind. If the heathen are perishing because the gos- 
pel has not been proclaimed to them, the like condition of multitudes, 
in Christian lands, may be, because it is not proclaimed along the paths 
of common life. Or if the Catholic communities may have perished 
under the abundant pardons and licenses of an unearthly Christianity, it 
may be that Protestants have given a fatal ' indulgence ' amidst the 
seeming severity of their claims. No wonder if the gospel prove inef- 
fectual to the mass, if it be not carried down, with its offers and com- 
mands, to the business and bosoms of men ; to the toils, and cares, and 
perplexities, and fears, and hopes of this mortal life : if it be not carried 
down to the scene of suffering and tears — to the infirmities by which 
men may have fellowship with their High Priest and Intercessor. 
What avails it that the new and living way is opened through the blood 
of Jesus, and the covenant offered which writes the law upon the heart, 
unless it reach down to our time of need ? What avails the ' peace/ 



.4 
9 * 

unless it descend even to the 'earth;' or the 'good will,' unless it reach 
to * men ' ? What avails the gospel, or its full publication, if the sound 
is not conducted along the paths of life — if it be not heard in the field, 
and the shop, and the market, and the counting-room — in prosperity 
and adversity, in fear and hope? A Protestant gospel, nay, the true 
and perfect gospel, must fail to bless mankind, if it be restrained within 
the pale of a Catholic or pagan opportunity. Let the gospel have scope; 
let it utter its demands and otfers along the paths of life ; and let men 
know that the man of infirmities, the High Priest, ' able to save unto 
the uttermost,' calls them to come boldly unto the throne of grace in 
their time of need." 

** Come, then ; embrace the opportunity of your frail and fleeting life. 
Have faith in God — obedient faith in all your need — and your single 
eye shall range the whole field of immortality. Come, with your heav- 
iest burdens, if like a mountain weight ; come, with your lightest cares 
— as light, as numerous, as the hairs of your head — as unimportant as 
a sparrow's fall. Come, and commune with your prepared High Priest, 
with the man of infirmities — the God ' who was made flesh and dwelt 
among us.' Not timidly, but boldly, come to the throne of grace. 
Come, and but say, * Give me this day my daily bread ; ' bless me in 
this path of difficulty; guide me with thy counsel, and afterward re- 
ceive me to glory; — that faith of the feeble spirit, in its frail tenement, 
shall join you to the Redeemer. You shall be *in Christ a new crea- 
ture. Old things shall be passed away, and behold all things shall be- 
come new.' " 



*' Preaching and Procedure^^ as printed IS39. 

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

Wareham, March 25, 1839. 
SiLVANus Bourne, Esq. : Dear Sir, — I herewith transmit a paper 
communicated to the church, April 9, 1834, and a sermon delivered 
May 4, of the same year. The sermon was asked for the press the 
day after it was delivered. I need not give my reasons for declining 
that request, nor for believing that the time has now come for its publi- 
cation, with the paper read before the church, April 9, preceding. It 
is sufficient to say, that it has become at length necessary for the pub- 
lic to have, in a brief and permanent form, such a view of my "preach- 
ing and procedure," as these papers contain. I wish such an edition 
may be printed, that a copy may be given gratuitously to every family 
in town, not only that they may have a brief and permanent view of 
my *' preaching and procedure," but an expression of the earnestness 
and steadiness with which I have endeavored to seek their present and 
eternal well-being. I submit this memorandum to your consideration 
with all confidence. Your friend and pastor, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 



10 



COMMUNICATION TO THE CHURCH, APRIL 9, 1834. 

On the renewal, for the third time, of a proposal for a protracted 
MEETING, I have chosen, in order to avoid all misapprehension, and to 
prevent the necessity of repeating it again, to make the following writ- 
ten reply,— being, in substance, the same as my verbal replies on two 
former occasions. 

First. My own health is such as to render me decidedly incompe- 
tent to the oversight and guidance of meetings for four successive days, 
or of a protracted meeting ; and I cannot see that such a meeting can 
be advantageously carried on except under the superintendence of the 
pastor. This reason, whether I regard my present or future useful- 
ness, would be sufficient to govern my decision to decline, even on the 
supposition that protracted meetings are desirable, where this reason 
does not exist. 

Secondly. I decline the more readily, whether on the above ground 
or others, because, by all consent, protracted meetings are no ordi- 
nance of God, and therefore, when proposed, are of course submitted 
by men to the best judgment of other men, whose co-operation may be 
supposed necessary. It is a case, of course, where I am both at liberty, 
and under obligations, to decide for myself 

Thirdly. Being, then, as I suppose, both at liberty, and under obli- 
gation, to decide, in a case where my co-operation and superintend- 
ence are proposed, I do therefore deliberately say, as I have already 
verbally done, that protracted meetings are, in my judgment, a mistaken 
measure ; that it is my full conviction that, ere long, they will prove 
themselves to be so, to the conviction of all considerate Christians ; that, 
with their novelty, they will pass and be gone, leaving principles and 
habits tvhich will retard the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom^ unless 
and until those principles and habits shall be reformed. 

I believe them to be a mistaken measure because, — 

1. They are at variance with those divine arrangements which call 
communities and families to the employments of life, and with that 
infirmity of the body and mind, by which God has rendered the sound- 
est constitutions incapable of them; of course with that regularity and 
repose which the human constitution, even when in full strength, re- 
quires. 

2. Because the advantage which they are supposed to afford cannot 
abide — cannot be woven in with the web of life like those which com- 
port with the condition of man; and because the supposition of their 
advantage must leave the greater proportion of human life under an 
imagined disadvantage, whether for publishing or embracing the 
gospel. 

3. Because the advantage which they propose — namely, a separation 
from earthly concerns as the best means of conversion and sanctifica- 
tion — is on the mistaken principle that earthly cares and toils and bles- 
sings, as divinely intermixed, are unfavorable to the commencement 
and growth of piety. 

If there needed any proof that they are on these accounts a mistaken 
measure, it might be found in the progress to a grosser and still grosser 
mistake to which they are evidently proceeding. Who can^lielp paus- 



11 

ing and thinking, when, instead of four days, ten, twenty, forty, fifty 
days are claimed as the best means of promoting the spread of the 
gospel. Can ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty days meetings be consis- 
tent with the divine arrangement for man? Can they be woven in 
with the web of life ? Can they be on the principle that earth is a 
school for heaven ? 

My views are confirmed by facta in the history of the church, so no- 
torious that the least informed are aware of them ; proving that evil 
has at length prevailed over the apparent good, wherever the influence 
of the gospel has been sought in separation from the appointed condi- 
tion and employments of life. Witness the monastery and the nunne- 
ry — places supposed of special advantage, because so separated, yet 
proving a hindrance, instead of a help, to the progress of religion in 
the world. 

Fourthly. I decline the more readily, because so to do is more 
consonant with the principles and course of my ministry hitherto, and 
to which I feel myself devoted. By a figure which I have sometimes 
employed, and which needs no explanation, I have aimed to engage 
the church in the work, and to give the people the advantages, of a 

THREE HUNDRED AND STXTY-FIVE DAYS MEETING. From this aim I 

cannot consistently turn aside to a meeting of four days, which, from 
its very nature, must be temporary and partial, and must render us so 
much the less able to yield to the other and more important proposal. 
Fifthly. I have no fears that the gospel will fail of having " free 
course" among us for want of the proposed measure; because, — 

1. I rely with confidence that the truth, dispensed in ways divinely 
appointed, and consistent with the condition and state of man, has the 
fairest possible opportunity for good effect. 

2. Because, by all consent, the apparent success of protracted meet- 
ings has been mainly, or only, when the way was previously prepared — 
that is, when success was current — and fairly proceeding from other 
means. 

3. Because I see growing signs of success. If the gospel fails of 
success, it must be for the want of other means than those which I 
decline. 

But, sixthly, if protracted meetings, or any other device of man 
which were not inconsistent with just principles and habits, were re- 
garded as necessary to success, then would the duty of declining be more 
imperious, in order that expectation might be turned and the glory of 
all success be given to God and his word alone. So much the more, 
as any human plans are relied on to give efficacy to the word, so much 
the less can they be conscientiously adopted. 

I do therefore decline the charge of a protracted meeting, first, as 
incompetent in point of health, to a task to which, in truth, I consider 
all men incompetent; secondly, as evidently no ordinance of God, 
on which I am at liberty, and under obligation, to act according to 
my best judgment ; thirdly, as a mistaken measure; fourthly, as out 
of keeping with the whole course of my ministry; fifthly, in hopes of 
free course to God's word without it; and, sixthly, as a measure now 
deserving to be declined, because it claims to itself the honor due only 
to the word, the ordinances, and the Spirit of God: and I pray that 



12 

God may so guide as shall give his word free course among this 
people. 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 



["In 1834, Mr. Nott preached what has been called his trumpet ser- 
mon, and came out openly against all revivals, as we understand him." 
Memorial, September 23, 1845.] 

ANNIVERSARY^^SERMON, MAY 4, 1834. 

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound^ who shall prepare himself for the battle ? 

1 Cor. xiv. 8. 

These words contain a principle which reaches far beyond the occa- 
sion on which the apostle penned them. That occasion was the abuse 
of the gift of tongues, which some of the early disciples employed, 
when the speaker was but a barbarian to those to whom he spoke — 
when speaking words not easy to be understood, he but spake into 
the air; that is, uselessly, for naught. But the same reason which re- 
quires us, in our public assemblies', to use an intelligible language, re- 
quires us to use it in an intelligible way; and it is the proper claim of 
every public assembly that those who speak to them should speak so 
that their meaning may be known. This claim has every church and 
congregation, especially upon its own pastor, on all the matters he is 
called to lay before them, and, above all, in what may be considered 
the great truths of religion. He is a miserable watchman whose trum- 
pet gives no distinction of sound, at whose blast it cannot be known 
whether it be for advance or retreat, and who leaves equally uncertain 
the path of safety and of ruin. Such a watchman is either base or 
incompetent, and, in either case, should be sent down from the watch- 
tower — if base, to answer for his crimes ; if incompetent, to a place 
more suited to his incapacity. 

I took special pains, this morning, so far as I could in view of the 
text* and the occasion, to present the great truths whi'ch require a 
gospel and belong to the gospel — to give the trumpet a certain sound — 
a blast distinct, if it might have been uncertain before. I took pains 
also to recall to your recollection the same truths, as distinct, as clear, 
as they have been published for years— line upon line, precept upon 
precept. Judge ye, then,*'whether the trumpet has given a certain or 
uncertain sound ; whether you are not fairly called to the battle with 
sin and Satan ; and whether the watchman or yourselves must answer 
it, if you come not off victorious ? 

It is five years this day since I first opened my lips as a public teach- 
er in this place ; from which time it has been my aim to declare the 
whole counsel of God ; speaking at least with all honesty, without the 
least reserve, the convictions of my own mind, as far as I have been 
able, in all the simplicity and in all the variety of the Bible; yet I 

c 

* Luke xix, 10: For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. 



13 

have thought ever holding forth, with a clearness and constancy which 
could not be mistaken, the great truths involved in the discourse this 
morning, and those which have been referred to in it. Shall I say 
more? Those truths of the Bible ^xe pcrsonaUy true to me, as a man^ 
expecting to die, living in the school of preparation, and trying to ac- 
cept the gospel yb/- myself. They are the truths on which / live, and 
by means of which only / have hope in death. They are the truths 
which God has taught me in the discipline of a varied life, inwrought 
into the whole history of my daily experience for nearly thirty years. 
Do you ask what truths ? I will tell you again, that there may be no 
possible misunderstanding, namely, that man is a sinner, absolutely 
and eternally lost and ruined without the gospel, sought and saved only 
by the blood and Spirit of Christ; that the sinner, remaining impeni- 
tent, and unforgiven, and unrenewed, remains lost forever ; that the 
saint — that is, the penitent, the forgiven, the renewed man — the sanc- 
tified man alont is saved by Him who came to save his people from 
their sins. I say, these truths I seem to myself to have learned over 
again and again a thousand times, amid the scholarship of life. They 
are truths which experience has forced upon me, and taught in ten 
thousand different ways, so that I may say, with the scholar of the 
schools, " The lesson is conned by heart;" so that it seems impossible 
for me to keep it from the lip; so that I cannot conceive it possible for 
me to have missed a Sabbath or a day in which these essential truths 
have not dropped, I say not as purely and as profitably, but I might 
almost say as constantly, as the rain, and distilled as the dew. Or, 
I may say, amidst the discipline of life, God has engraven these truths 
upon my inmost soul as with a pen of iron, and with the point of a 
diamond, until, to a people where my whole heart has been freely laid 
open, I cannot conceive it possible that they can be doubted as the 
truths o( my personal hopes and of my ministerial work. Believe that 
man is a sinner, totally ruined, without Christ and without his Spirit; 
saved only by repentance and remission of sins; repenting only by the 
power of the Spirit; lost forever unless made a new creature in Christ 
Jesus? Do I believe these truths? Believe them! 1 learned them 
from my father and my mother with the first lessons of my childhood, 
and they were the truths which hedged me up in early life, to look 
forth for the Saviour and the Spirit; which bowed me, as I trust before 
the throne of grace ; which have made me anxiously desire that the 
pure work and the full work of the Spirit might be wrought upon my 
heart ; which made me resolve to devote myself to the ministry of rec- 
onciliation, and which made me forsake my country to publish salva- 
tion from sin among the perishing heathen. They are the truths 
which God has forced upon me at every turn of life, in every trial, in 
every necessity — truths which I have believed when sickening unto 
death, when expecting every hour to sink in the ocean, and when try- 
ing to meet with patience, and submission, and prayer, the more en- 
during trials of life. Shall I say that I belifve that / and all are lost 
without Christ and without the Spirit— without repentance and conver- 
sion — without the new birth and the growth of piety to the stature of a 
perfect man ? Believe them! Rather may I not say, as I have said 
more privately, I feel them to my very fngers' ends 1 And I should as 
3 



14 

much wonder to be asked if these are the truths of my ministry, and 
my person, and my life, and my hopes for eternity, as to be asked, 
while I move my hands, my lips, and my eyes, before you now, if I am 
a living man ? 

Judge, then, my astonishment to have learned, in ways so various and 
so remarkable as to demand this public notice, that these truths have 
been thought to be withheld, or at least hidden or obscured, when I 
have supposed that they were as clear as that I am a living man. If 
I have been misunderstood, and if I fail to make myself now under- 
stood ; if I fail to awaken former statements in your memory, and if I 
have thus hazarded the immortal souls committed to my care, when I 
have thought myself pleading with them in view of all the consequences 
of sin; though I have tried to " be gentle among you, even as a nurse 
cherishes her children; — then shall 1 believe myself to have been visit- 
ed for five years with the very contrast oi Balaam — that some evil spirit 
has transformed the words of my mouth, as they have flowed forth the 
fullness of my heart, and that, when I have thought I was uttering the 
curse, it went forth a blessing; and when I thought I was uttering a 
blessing, it went forth a curse ; and that even now my tongue may 
prove spell-bound, and be false to the firmest opinions and deepest 
convictions of my heart. 

But is it so 1 Has this ministry for five years left the great truths of 
religion unsaid — line upon line, precept upon precept — or darkly and 
obscurely said? Give me leave to ask, amidst the recollections of this 
day with the truths of years clustering before your eyes, sounding in 
your ears — give me leave to ask, — Is there in this house, man or wo- 
man, who is ignorant what my views have been and are, of the charac- 
ter and prospects of man without the gospel, and what is the method of 
recovery proposed by the gospel ? and if to-night I should be called to 
give an account of the ministry which I have received of the Lord Je- 
sus ; and the memory of the church, and the memory of those out of 
the church, were to be brought in evidence before my Master and yours, 
would a single tongue be found to say that the entire and total ruin of 
the sinner had not been the principle on which my whole ministry had 
proceeded — that it had not been singled out, and insisted on, and label- 
ed, as the first lesson of salvation ? or that I had spoken of any other 
way of recovery but the blood and the Spirit of Christ, through forgive- 
ness and repentance, through the renewal and the sanctifiication of the 
heart? Would a single tongue be found to say that the distinction 
between saint and sinner had been forgotten; that I had missed to 
say that the sinner, remaining in his sins, is lost and ruined forever; 
and that, never until he became a saint, not in name only, but in deed 
and in truth, in his inward soul, can he have eternal life 1 or that 
these great truths had been brought forth so blindly, so darkly, as not 
to be seen ; or so far between as to be forgotten, amidst the smooth 
things of the prophet's lips? that, for the most part, the trumpet had 
given too uncertain a sound to wake the preparation for the battle with 
sin ? that he that believeth shall be saved, had hidden its partner — he 
that believeth not shall be damned ? and therefore that the blood of 
souls would be found on my skirts ? 

Or, on the other hand, could there, could there be found man or 



15 

woman whose ear has been so deaf, or whose memory has proved so 
treacherous, that they would not bear me witness that 1 have ever stood 
before you in the character of a sinner myself, lost and ruined without 
the gospel, and hoping from the gospel only by being with Christ and 
with the Spirit — repenting, believing, obeying? Could there be found 
man or woman, who would not bear me witness that, with the steadi- 
ness and continuance and determinateness of one schooled for a quarter 
of a century into a deeper sense of his own sinfulness, and into a sim- 
pler desire and earnestness for the Holy Spirit, I have uniformly de- 
clared these essential truths; that, for the space of five years, 1 have 
not ceased, with growing clearness and earnestness, as a watchman, to 
warn men to turn from sin to holiness, hy the Spirit of the Lord, as 
the only possible salvation ? 

Or, if the appeal were to be made to hundreds of neighborhood 
meetings, in which, in all the variety of ever changing occasions, I 
have been called to utter all ray mind on the great subject of religion, or 
to thousands of family visits and individual conversations, renewed with 
a constancy of almost every day, might 1 not, humbly, in view of the 
plagues of my own heart, but decidcdli/, from school-house and dwelling- 
house, where we have met in many a solemn assembly, and from hun- 
dreds of individuals whom I have tried to guide in the way of peace, 
claim the testimony that my message, in every social meeting, by the 
fireside and by the roadside, has been that man's ruin, without Christ 
and without the Spirit, is entire, total, remediless; and that salvation is 
begun and finished only by the renewing and sanctifying energy of the 
Holy Ghost? 

Or, if the appeal were to be made to those whom it has been my lot 
to meet on beds of sickness or around the dying bed, might I not ask, 
confidently, whether, in the hour of extremity and fear and anguish of 
soul, I have ventured to apply other medicine than the balm of the gos- 
pel, or to direct to other physician than the divine Redeemer ? Wheth- 
er the Spirit, renewing and sanctifying the heart, writing upon it the 
law of God, has not been insisted on gently, but decidedly, as the only 
preparation for entering into rest? And if the veil that separates from 
our sight our departed friends could be withdrawn, should I fail to see 
at this moment smiling witnesses among the blessed, or to hear the tes- 
timony on which, possibly, the Saviour may yet give me a blessino- 
with the blessed; when, in view of spirits whose path to heaven I may 
have aided, ever so feebly, He shall say, " I was sick, and ye visited 
me with the lessons of salvation ! " 

Or, could there be found one to say that these great truths proclaimed 
with the lips were disallowed in the life ? that the doctrine of the pulpit 
and the pastor were annulled by the neglect of the man ? that except 
on regular or irregular occasions of religion, the question of saint or 
sinner, were a matter of indifference ? or to deny that, though " in 
weakness and fear and in much trembling," I have been among you 
from day to day and from week to week and from year to year, without 
an alloiccd interval: living as well as speaking on the principle, that 
earth is the school for heaven ; where amidst the lessons of Providence, 
the sinner is taught and disciplined by the word and Spirit, until sin is 
destroyed and holiness obtains eternal dominion in the soul : and from 
which he who will not learn departs to endless sin and sorrow. 



16 

And I ask, if my ministry, with all its imperfections, were to close 
to-night, whether in regard to the great truths to which 1 have refer- 
red, I should not have left a testimony, clear, distinct, repeated, urged 
and renewed, which it is impossible to forget and for which every one 
will have to give an account. 

Tell me, if this ministry were to close to-night, is \i possible — can I 
think it possible — that over my closing grave, it would be said, or even 
debated, that those silenced lips had abused their power to tell the sin- 
ner that in his sins he was in the way of life — that while 1 have been 
learning more and more the plague of my own heart, I have stood in 
this place and passed from house to house to make others think less and 
less of theirs ? that while I have sought more and more earnestly the 
omnipotence of the Spirit, I have taught other men to cherish their 
native good in order to be saved ? or, that sinner as I am myself, I 
have offered but the invitations and kept back the warnings of the 
gospel 1 Such a partial publication was natural to the sinless angels 
on the plains of Bethlehem. The voice of the heavenly host might 
sing only " Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will 
to men : " but not so a sinner struggling with sin. 

If then, the entire, total sinfulness and ruin of man without the 
gospel, and the only way of recovery by the blood and Spirit of Christ, 
be the clear, repeated, constant principles of my ministry, permit me 
to call to consideration in this matter, the members of this church and 
all others of this assembly. 

I ask then, Jirst, of each member of the church, have you welcom- 
ed to your own bosom the principles of my ministry 1 When again 
and again I have spoken of the sin and ruin of man, and the only 
method of salvation, have you welcomed the truth with the inward 
acknpwledgement — / am a sinner — my heart is corrupt — Lord renew 
my heart, if it be still unrenewed — and if it be renewed, sanctify it by 
the daily, hourly incomings of thy grace ? And when again and again, I 
have urged over your Christian path the warnings and encouragements, 
which met its beginning ; when I have preached the same gospel to 
the church as to those out of the church, have you resolved at all times 
and all seasons, to proceed with renewed repentance and faiih, from 
strength to strength, never ceasing either pains or prayer, until every 
one of you shall appear before God ? Or, when I have urged you to 
put forth effort and prayer for the conversion of all around you, have 
you been ready, are you now ready, to say each man to his neighbor, 
*' know the Lord," until all shall know him, from the least to the 
greatest? When I have met this community with words '' profitable 
for reproof and for correction and for instruction in righteousness " — 
with the great principles of the word of God — have you labored and 
prayed that that word might have free course and run and be glorified? 
Have you taken up the warning of the pulpit in its deepest solemnity 
— the invitation of the pulpit in its most earnest entreaty, and given 
it wing and power by your diligence in labor and your importunateness 
in prayer ? Or, will you now — will you from this hour — labor and 
pray that the great principles of the gospel referred to this day, may 
run and be glorified 1 Will you by your example, your words, your 
purity, your zeal, — will you pursue the work of saving yourselves, your 



17 

children, your kindred and the world from sin and ruin, present, 
growing and eternal ? Willi you co-operate with my feeble efforts to 
jix these great truths iadtlibly in the public mind? Will you do it 
jiow — will you try to do it steadily, perscvcringly ^ with growing zeal ? 
Will you do it in your families? will you do it in the field ? will you 
do it in the street ? will you do it when the public is moved to ask, 
what shall we do to be saved ? and will you do it the more, when men 
seem most to forget that they are sinners, and that they can be saved 
only by the blood and the Spirit of Christ ? 

And will you prove that you believe these truths by struggling 
against your own sin and striving for increasing holiness? W^ill you 
prove to your neighbors that you believe that man is a ruined sinner, 
and that he must be saved and may be saved, through sanctification of 
the Spirit, by resisting sin in yourselves and carrying the gospel to 
others— now and until you die? 

I seem to hear your voice uniting with a resolution which for many 
years I have tried to form — Yes we will. Yet I hear with trembling, 
while I say with forewarning, ye cannot thus serve the Lord ; for he is 
a holy God : he is a jealous God. If, after this promise, ye turn aside 
from his service ; if ye forget that yourselves are sinners, and that he is 
able and willing to help yourselves ; if you turn from Him to coldness 
within and neglect without ; then beware lest he consume you even 
after that he seemeth to have done you good. But after this caution 
and this forewarning, I seem again to hear you say, "Nay ! but we 
will serve the Lord ! " 

Be it so. Ye then are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have 
chosen you the Lord, to serve him. Now therefore, search out every 
false principle, every evil habit, every besetting sin, and put them 
away ; and the Lord incline us, pastor and church, to live and act and 
speak and teach and pray, on the acknowledged and awful truths, we 
are sinners — all are sinners — ruined forever, unless we are cleansed 
by the blood and the Spirit of Christ : and let us teach, every man 
his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; never 
ceasing until all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest ; until 
the covenant is fulfilled, which writes the law upon the heart and 
puts the truth in the inward parts ! 

I turn now to those who are without the church ; or rather to those 
who are conscious that they have not been renewed by the Spirit of 
Christ — that they have not turned or been turned, like the ancient 
saints and apostles, from sin to holiness. And I say. 

Could I for one moment suppose that until this hour I had left un- 
said, or said obscurely, the great truths which have waked in myself 
the fear of eternal ruin and the struggle and the hope of everlasting 
life : could I suppose, that until now, you imagiined that my testimony 
made sin a light burden, or showed salvation waiting only on the un- 
aided powers of man, and mingled in one common mass saints and 
sinners — I would make on this spot a confession as public as my 
crime — which you should never forget ; and I would call from these 
walls an echo for the truth as it is in Jesus, which should not die, until 
every tongue now before me should be mute in the grave. 

But if, on the other hand, I have spoken with no obscurity ; if I 



18 

have spoken in a thousand different forms and on a thousand different 
occasions, these great truths ; if upon the walls of this new temple, I 
have been enabled to inscribe the truths which were graven on the 
walls of the old ; if the great truths that man is a sinner, ruined — 
entirely, totally, eternally — without Christ and without the Spirit, and 
saved only by the application of the blood and Spirit of Christ, are so 
fixed as the doctrines of this house that even when you sit in silence 
they must seem before you like a hand-writing on the wall — so sounded 
forth that their echo cannot die ; — if the trumpet of the watchman has 
given no uncertain sound— *gives now no uncertain sound — one ques- 
tion yet remains, — will you prepare yourselves for the battle, by which 
you must conquer sin and win the crown 1 In asking this question, I 
do not single out man or woman and ask some two or three, some ten 
or twenty, some fifty or hundred — will you ? nor 7iow especially with 
regard to a more favorable season — but of each and all — on the broad 
ground of truth — unalterable truth ! Will you hear renewed, from 
the lips of a sinner who has struggled many years with sin, that man 
is a.sinner ; that yourself are a sinner; guilty, corrupt, lost — lost for- 
ever, unless sought and saved by the Son of man ? VVill you hear the 
voice. Flee from the wrath to come: will you let it sink into your soul 
so deep that it can never be forgotten ? 

Will you hear the voice which addresses you, still as a prisoner of 
hope? Will you hear the crucified Redeemer, saying, "Look unto 
me and be ye saved." Will you hear the freeness, the abundance, the 
urgency of his call, " Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the 
waters ; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, without 
money and without price 1 " Will you hear the assurance and the 
warning, " He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not 
shall be damned." Will you prepare yourselves for the battle in which 
sin is to be conquered and the eternal crown won ? 

In the great question which I bring before you times and seasons 
vanish ; while the solemn and awful truths of all times and seasons 
stand in array before you. And I would so leave that question before 
you, that if this hour should close ?ny ministry, or your opportunity, 
the crown of righteousness might not be missed by any one of you. 
In view then of truths which never change, in view of the sinner's 
ruin and the saint's reward, in view of the pains of hell and the 
joys of heaven, I call upon you to enlist under the captain of our sal- 
vation. 

Are you a sinner, exposed to ruin, and will you delay to a more con- 
venient season, to accept the grace of the Saviour ? Are you sinners, 
and will you delay for a more convenient season before you will hasten 
like a cloud, or as doves to their windows ? Will you follow and 
obey an Almighty Saviour? And when I need an epistle or letter of 
commendation from you, in proof that the great principles of the 
gospel have been urged and re-urged upon you, may I say. Behold 
an epistle in these, who have turned from sin unto holiness and from 
the power of Satan unto God. 

But it is not for myself that I plead. I have not forgotten the warn- 
ing, often received, that the unfaithful watchman will have to answer 
for his ill success at the highest tribunal : nor that the faithful watch- 



19 

man will find a personal reward, notwithstanding the failure of his 
warning : yet in either case you may die in your sins. And 1 ask, 
will you hazard it by delay? Look around you, near-by or remotely 
and see the signs of the progress of the gospel. What think you ? At 
the present rate of entering the gate and walking in the way, is it 
likely that this assembly will be saved ? Alas, my hearers ! A mar- 
vel must occur, or there are seeds of ruin thick scattered in this assem- 
bly, that will never be plucked up; fruits, ripening into ceaseless 
woe ; leprous spots, that will never be cleansed away ; sins, sharpening 
their envenomed point into the slings of an endless death ; a rebellion 
against God, which will call forth, at length, his overwhelming wrath. 
Neglect will not hinder the approaching calamity — indifference will 
not — promise for the future will not — impenitence will not — prayer- 
lessness will not — the course in which many of you live will not — twenty 
years more, like twenty years past, will not. Nothing will — but the 
prayer and repentance and faith and love which Jesus has brought to 
earth and giveth by the Spirit — to the rebellious too— that the Lord 
God misht dwell among them. Hasten then, to the work — to the 
struggle by which the sinner enters the straight gate, and walks in the 
narrow way. Hasten to receive the Spirit that strives with you — the 
Spirit to aid artd teach you. Hasten to the conflict with sin and 
Satan, along the paths of life ; to the throne of grace which is opened 
over every head ; to the great High Priest and Intercessor, who meets 
you amidst all your necessities. Hasten to the discipline of earth, and 
press toward the mark for the prize and for the crown. 

Which of you ? How many? I say not ten, or twenty, or fifty, 
or a hundred. If I proclaim the sinner lost, I proclaim that alarming 
doctrine to all ; and if I proclaim a Saviour able to save unto the 
uttermost, I will not limit the offer or the urgency, but call you to the 
blessing, " Whosoever will, let him take the waters of life freely ; " and 
whosoever will not, must be lost. How bitterly lost 1 how irrecover- 
ably lost ! how lost forever ! and forever 1 when he falls from the grasp 
of the Infinite Redeemer! Alas! for you, if you will not hear the 
voice which offers salvation this day to every house. " The Son of 
man is come to seek and to save the lost." 



Postscript. 

Wareham, April 1], 1839. 

And now did the Trumpet of May 4, 1834, give an uncertain 
sound? Or have I so lived and taught among you for another five 
years, as to make that sound forgotten ? Or may I not rather renew 
the appeal, p. 16, *Mf my ministry, with all its imperfections, were to 
close to-night, should I not leave a testimony clear, distinct, repeated, 
urged and renewed, which it is impossible to forget, and for which every 
one will have to give an account? " 

In sending forth, then, this view of my "preaching and procedure," 
taken midway in my ministry among you, I am chiefly anxious that 
you yield to the urgent Appeals which I uttered on the ground of the 
clear, repeated, constant principles of my ministry ; now, as we are 
closing the tenth year of our relation to each other, I ask church 



20 

members to yield to the urgent appeal, pp. 16, 17. I ask the 
whole town of Wareham io yield to the urgent appeal, pp. 17, 18. 19, 
I cannot better express my earnest desire and hope in your behalf, 
than in the following extract from my discourse, Jan. 28, 1838. 

" O, if any thing is wanting to make the grace of God effectual 
among us, beyond all that has been before, more reaching to every 
house and to every heart, more purifying, and more rich in every thing 
that is lovely and of good report, to give it course more deep, and 
thorough, and lasting, and growing, it is not, let me say, more truth; 
nay, it is not a new and special dispensation of the Spirit of truth, but 
that you take heed to the truth already urged upon you ; and to the 
Spirit, who accompanies the truth from Pentecost to this very hour ! 

" Yes, under this same truth — these words of spirit and of life — un- 
der this same Spirit, shed forth from our ascended Lord, there may be 
at hand success to God's word, more extensive, more reaching to every 
house and to every heart, more pure, and deep, and lasting, and grow- 
ing, than either we or our fathers have known But if it be, it 

can be only on the unchanging and eternal principles of God's word, 
and by taking heed to those principles as we have never done before ; 
hy om mixing faith w'xih the words we hear; by our believing wel- 
come OF THE EVER PRESENT SpIRIT." * 

And in aid of this high desire and hope, can I do better than to 
send now abroad on this sheet to every house the urgent invitation to 
public worship which I gave in all your districts in the autumn of 1837, 
which I renewed for the space of two months as a public officer from 
the pulpit in the months of August and September, 1838? I hope, 
indeed, in a few months, to offer you and the public at large a volume 
of three hundred pages, entitled, "Views of Public Worship, suited to 
the Times," embracing my discourses on that subject, and those on 
the principles of my own ministry, from January, 1838, to February, 
1838. This work, with its companion, "Sermons from the Fowls of 
the Air and the Lilies of the Field, or Lessons of Faith beside the 
common Path of Life," published in 1834, will give a fuller view of my 

*' preaching and procedure." Meanwhile let me call, if I can, 

upon every house, with trumpet tongue, to come to public worship. I 
call hundreds of absentees, not to fill an empty house — for I know none 
better attended than my own— but to crowd and over-crowd a full one; 
to fill every house. At least, let me ask this, as I did for the pleasant 
month of October last, now for April, May, and June, the pleasantest 
months, the opening paradise of the year. Crowd and over-crowd ev- 
ery house of public worship for the months of April, May, and June. 

Perhaps He who has put this small request into my heart, will, if you 
comply with it, so crown your coming and your calling one another to 
come, with his blessing, that, before April, May, and June are past, 
the one joyful exclamation of the whole people will be, ** How amia- 
ble are thy tabernacles, O Lord God of hosts! The Lord will give 
grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk 
uprightly. O Lord God of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in 
thee 1 " Then shall the spring of 1839 surpass in blessings all that we 
or our fathers have known. 

L..)>iili I a;:\ I ,1' ■ ' 



fel 



SECOND PERIOD, FROM MAY, 1834, TO JANUARY, 1838. 

Articles of Agreement hcticeen the Church and First Society, Febru- 
ary 18, 1829. 

1. The church shall have the sole privilege of inviting a candidate 
to preach on probation ; and, if he be approved of, both by a m.ijority 
of tlie church and a majority of the society, a call to settle as their 
pastor shall then be presented for his acceptance. 

2. The church, in connection with the candidate, shall' have the 
privilege of selecting and inviting the ordaining council. 

3. The minister who may settle with us shall have the sole control 
of his own exchanges, without the interference of the church or 
society. 

4 To dismiss a minister, shall be in favor of his dismission both a 
majority of the church and a majority of the society. He shall, in that 
case, be dismissed, by the advice of a council. 

Terms of Mr. Nott's Settlement. 

Voted, May 25, 1829, to concur with the church in giving the Rev. 
Samuel Nott, Jr., a call to settle as their pastor. 

Voted, That the conditions under which the parish agree to settle 
Mr. Nott are, that Mr. Nott shall have the liberty of dissolving the 
contract, by giving the parish six months' notice; and the parish re- 
serve the liberty of dissolving the contract, by giving Mr. Nott six 
months' notice. 

Second Article of Warrant for Parish Electing, June 1, IS37, issuing 
in the subjoined Vote. 

2. To discuss and act on the important question, whether the parish 
will provide the means to pay their pastor, or give him notice that the 
connection between him and the parish is dissolved. 

VVareham, August 4, 1837. 

Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr.: Dear Sir, — On Monday last, the under- 
signed were chosen by the First Parish in Wareham a committee for 
the purpose of informing you that said parish on that day passed the 
following vote : 

" That the First Parish in Wareham give the Rev. Samuel Nott, 
Jr., notice that his connection with said parish be dissolved at the end 
of six months from this date, and, after that time, he look to the sub- 
scribers, who have or may subscribe to his support, for future com- 
pensation for parochial services." 

And we hereby communicate the same to you officially. 

With great respect and high esteem, your obedient servants, 

Abisha Barrows, ) ^ ... 
C5 T> r Committee. 

biLVANUS JdOURNE, ^ 



22 

Wareham, October 24, 1837. 

Reii. Samuel Noft, Jr.: Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 2{)th inst. is 
received, in which you request written information "of the history and 
state of the subscription referred to" in our former communication. 

First, of its date. July 18, 1832, a subscription book was circulated 
among your parishioners, the terms of which were, that half be paid in 
December and half in June annually; and that it should continue until 
the subscribers individually should signify in writing to the clerk that 
he or she wished it altered, by enlarging, diminishing, or discontinu- 
ing his or her subscription; and, in case too much was subscribed, the 
parish committee should deduct such a per centage from the amount of 
each individual subscription as should reduce the whole to the wants 
of the parish. 

Second, of its amount when first made. In the book aforesaid there 
was subscribed the first year SS51. 

Third, of the amounts available on each successive year. 

In 1833, 1660 73, a surplus of $120, which went to pay debts. 
July 1, 1834, 392 29, a deficiency of $30, 10 per cent, not called for. 

'• '* 1835, 575 72, even. 

" " 1836, 413 30, deficiency of ^$150. 

-' " 1837, 543 01, and the parish in debt $262 92. 

Fourth, of the modes which have been taken to check or increase 
that amount. The collectors twice each year have solicited aid from 
non-subscribers, and received what the subscribers were willing to pay, 
without legal coercion. 

Fifth, of the results, whether of deficiency or of surplus, after experi- 
ment to the date of the vote of the parish. This answered in the third. 

Sixth, of the method of raising funds, and their results previous to 
the method of subscription. Before this method was adopted, we rais- 
ed the money for parochial purposes by taxation. This became un- 
popular, and sometimes not more than two-thirds of a tax could be col- 
lected without legal process, which was not in any case resorted to.* 

We would further state that the parish owns thirty-five shares in the 
Wareham Bank stock, which has yielded from $210 to $245 per an- 
num, subject, however, to a tax of $10 or $12 per year, and other ex- 
penses, besides paying our pastor, has averaged about $50 per year. 
With respect and esteem, your obedient servants, 

SiLVANus Bourne, ^ Parish 
Abisha Barrows, ^ Committee. 

Wareham, November, 1837. 

Messrs, A. Barrows and S. Bourne^ Committee of the Parish : 
Dear Sirs, — Having, I trust, duly considered the vote of the parish, 
communicated in your letter of August 4, I submit the following an- 
iswer : 

J. If the six months' warning had been unconnected with any refer- 

* In 1 830, 1 831 , exactly as in 1 84 1 . " One third of it could not be collected without losing 
(he parishioners.'' — tiee Memorial, 184d. 



23 

ence to my subsequent holding the pastoral office here, it would require 
no other action on my part than to request the church to unite in the 
usual measure for my ecclesiastical dismission. 

2. As, however, the parish, in their vote, do actually propose my 
continuance in office on a new tenure, namely, that of looking to "the 
subscribers who have or may subscrihe to my support for future com- 
pensation for parochial services;" and, as 1 Hnd myself still received 
by the people as their fixed and settled pastor, and with all affection, as 
much as at any lime since my settlement, I conceive myself called upon 
for an answer touching that proposal. 

I have nearly copied, thus far, from my former letter to you, request- 
ing informatijn on the subscription referred to in the parish vote. 

From your answer of October '24, 1 learn as follows, namely 

[See former page.] 

I take it for granted, as no other cause has been mentioned, that the 
vote of the parish is grounded on the facts which I have here recorded ; 
that they do not see cause for retaining their united responsibility on a 
subscription which thus falls short of its orijrinal face, and brings them 
into such indefinite and growing arrears. This being the case, I pre- 
sume it is not expected that I shall accept it in the state of decay, 
when they have determined to decline it. At any rate, 1 do decidedly, 
and without hesitation decline the proposition of retaining the pastoral 
office on this new tenure. If my circumstances admitted accepting a 
subscription on the footing proposed, 1 certainly would not accept a 
proposal so likely to put your parish affairs at loose ends. If that were 
not hazarded, however, it is out of my power to pledge myself in the 
indefinite manner referred to. I am the more ready to answer with 
the same wisdom which decided the parish to decline the responsibility 
from having once tried a similar experiment to which you will allow 
me to refer. 

Three years after my settlement in Galway, I became acquainted 
with the fact that the society was in debt to its two former pastors 
8/00, and to me and sundries, $300; that that debt had accrued from 
the natural decay of their subscription list; and from the practice of 
supplying that natural decay from year to year by using a portion of 
each succeeding income to pay the arrears of each preceding year — of 
providing for the past by anticipating the future. 

On becoming acquainted with this state of the funds, and this habit 
of a dozen years' standing, in order to secure justice to all parties, and 
to bring the society to the only principle on which their interests could 
be sustained, I made a written communication to the trustees, offering 
to do my own part in the payment of those arrears, and to check them 
hereafter on nearly the very principle now offered in the parish vote, 
namely, that I would receive thereafter such an amount as the trustees 
should announce to me as available for each ensuing year, be it more or 
Jess, or resign. Under this provision I went on three years, receiving, 
instead of my original salary of $G00, $550, $500, and $400 succes- 
sively ; until at length I took measures for obtaining a more favorable 
settlement, which issued in your application to me, April, 1829, and in 
my settlement as your pastor the July following. 

It is due to myself and to the value of my experience in the matter 



24 

to say, that all this occurred among an affectionate people, without the 
least unkind feeling, and while the society were disposed unanimous- 
ly to continue the relation. I have the documents lying before me while 
I write, which plainly show this. Thus, under date of April 14, 1828, 
the trustees, in making certain propositions, say, ** The trustees, and, 
so far as we know, the whole congregation, regard you, in your public 
and private ministrations, with profound respect and unfeigned esteem; 
and that the diminution in the amount of subscriptions for the support 
of the gospel in this place is owing to causes wholly aside from any 
thing like dislike to the present incumbent of the desk." [A reference 
to the renewed subscriptions and offers in salary, and my reasons for 
accepting the call at Wareham notwithstanding, and for refusing to 
accept an irresponsible subscription list in Wareham after my exper- 
iment, having been given, the letter proceeds.] 

The terms of my settlement leave me, at this point, nothing to do 
but to take, in due season, the measures for ray ecclesiastical dismis- 
sion. It remains for the parish to take any measures to arrest this pro- 
ceeding which their sense of duty or feeling of kindness may suggest. 
I pray that they may seek and find the direction of Infinite Wisdom. 

I shall only say, with regard to myself, that I have no desire to re- 
sign my charge — no willingness even, to seek for a new settlement and 
new friends. Amidst the pungent mental suffering of removing from 
Galway, I said a hundred times to myself, " Never move if you can 
help it ;" and I have repeated it perhaps a thousand times since I have 
lived among you. Of course, on the presumption implied in the parish 
vote, and in all the kindness which I daily find among you, that a con- 
tinuance of my services is still desired, I have no hesitation in saying 
that I am perfectly ready to renew our contract, actually cancelled by 
the late vote, on any terms of adequate respunsibility, on a subscrip- 
tion list even, if the parish take, as heretofore, the responsibility. After 
all my experience, however, I may express my conviction that a sub- 
scription list which does not provide in its oiua terms for every annual 
arrear, and for its oion natural decay, will be found such a method of 
arrears as will be a perpetual source of embarrassment, and be ever 
tending to the separation of pastor and people. It is, I believe, one of 
the chief causes of the lamented frequency of such separations in our 
country. 

[Omitting a reference to ray private affairs, the letter concludes] 

However my future course may be ordered, I pray that it may not 
be without an increase of my usefulness on your behalf; and that I 
may not be left without the sustaining and guiding hand which I have 
endeavored to acknowledge, and have seemed joyfully, in all former 
darkness and difficulty, to find. With my best wishes for the welfare 
of the church and parish, I shall betake myself to the duties that re- 
main within the scope of the parish vote, and to all others which may 
arise out of the future proceedings of the parish. 

With great regard for yourselves and your constituents, 

I remain your affectionate pastor. 

Saw u EL NoTT, Jr. 

N. B. The parish vote was reconsidered, and the contract renewed, 
Jan. 10, 1838, 



25 



THIRD PERIOD, 183S— 1840. 

To a Meeting of Church Members met by Public Notice, at the Meet- 
ing-house, August 3, 183S. 

Dear Brethren, — I was informed by Deacon Jeremiah Bumpas, who 
requested me to give notice of your meeting, that it was to be with ref- 
erence to the dissatisfaction of certain members of the church with 
their pastor, and that, in matters with which I was aheady acquainted. 
Of course I understand them to be the same as were referred to at a 
similar meeting, Feb. 14, at which I was requested to answer certain 
questions with regard to my religious views, proposed chiefly by those 
who were understood to be dissatisfied. 

In expectation that I might be requested to attend and answer at that 
meeting, I had designedly, as, on being sent for and meeting you, I 
stated, put myself out of your way, on the ground that all explanations 
were needless in the case of a minister who for eight years had been 
conversant among you, and whose printed works were in your hands, 
and in the hope that, with the knowledge of me which you had, you 
would choose your course, without consultation with me. With much 
prayer that you might be guided aright, I had cheerfully left my 
cause in the hands of my Master, and was abroad endeavoring to pur- 
sue his work, when I was sought by one of your number, and came to 
meet you at your request. Unnecessary as explanation seemed, how- 
ever, I did answer frankly your questions, and left you, in the hope 
that what I understood to be a small minority of the church would see 
their misapprehension, and join with their brethren in receiving at my 
hands the truths of the gospel, and in earnest and prayerful co-opera- 
tion with me in my ministerial work. 

I regret most deeply that in this hope I am disappointed ; and I take 
it for granted that your present meeting is not called without reference 
to some issue of the matters before you last winter. I consider it there- 
fore my duty to say that it is time, at this stage of your proceedings, to 
decline mere verbal communicGtions, which, of course, are gone as soon 
as uttered, and that henceforward it is needful to proceed on written doc- 
uments ; unless, as I would fondly hope, this present writing may finish, 
to your entire satisfaction, the whole concern. The present document 
is prepared, (1 ) That nothing may be wanting to the dissatisfied breth- 
ren, in order to bring their dissatisfaction to an issue; (2) That those 
who are satisfied may be able to review and understand the grounds of 
their satisfaction, and that both may be able to decide their duty in 
regard to whatever question may come before them, whether in regard 
to my ministry or their mutual fellowship as members of the church; 
and, lastly, that all may see the grounds on which 1 cheerfully and 
thankfully commit my own cause to the Master whom I desire to serve 
in your behalf If any thing further than this letter contains be 
thought needful, you have only to commit your questions to paper, and 
they shall receive as early an answer as the case shall admit. 

At present, that we may know where we are, I submit the following 
statements : 



26 

1. My Sermons for Children, in three vohimes, with prefaces to pa- * 
rents, published in 1823, 1824, and 1825, and of which there have been 
three editions, widely circulated and approved by all orthodox Chris- 
tians, were known to yoa before you sent to me the request to visit 
you, and, on my coming, were somewhat circulated among you. 
They embrace the great truths of religion, and, being designed for the 
use of parents and children together, may be supposed to have a plain- 
ness and simplicity which, in the least informed minds, could not leave 
my views doubtful. I cannot suppose that influential and leading 
members of the church did not take such a work into the account 
when they joined in a unanimous call to me to become their pastor. I 
request a careful and candid revision of that work before you proceed 
to any measures of dissatisfaction with my subsequent course, which, I 
believe will be found in harmony with that work, and especially with 
the fundamental parts, namely, the first four sermons, including that 
on the work of the Spirit. My earlier sermon, on the Idolatry of the 
Hindoos, which has been once preached before you may aid your 
inquiries. 

2. Since m.y residence among you, I have published two other reli- 
gious volumes, — the Telescope, and Sermons from the Fowls of the 
Air and the Lilies of the Field. Both these works involve the great 
doctrines of religion, and afford proof of my agreement with the great 
body of orthodox believers, and with myself in the former work. The 
articles, for instance, entitled the Heir of the World and the Heir of 
Heaven, present, in a picture as vivid as I was able to conceive, the 
misery of the worldling, and the blessedness of the righteous, with all 
the truths of warning and invitation which cluster around these prime 
articles of faith. I may say the same with regard to the Sermons, 
which were delivered before you ; that especially the third, entitled the 
Warrant to Faith, the fifth, entitled the End of our Faith, and the 
sixth, entitled the Rebuke of Unbelief, are remarkably distinct in both 
their encouragements and warnings, and in their adherence to the es- 
sential truths of the gospel. These works deserve your careful recon- 
sideration before you proceed to any steps which regard my ministra- 
tion among you. 

3. During the years 183 1 and 1832, I preached a series of dis- 
courses, the views of which pervade, of course, all my preaching and 
conversation, on the peculiar opportunities and hazards of the present 
times. A great proportion of these discourses were published, with 
such alterations as the form of publication required, in the New York 
Observer, under the title of the Observer of the Times, of which a few 
are appended to the Sermons from the Birds and Lilies. Within a 
week after these discourses had been delivered to you, often, and some- 
times before their delivery, they were scattered through every State in 
the Union, at the rate of twelve thousand copies each ; and I have had 
the satisfaction to know that the sermons, which dissatisfied, as I must 
suppose, some of my own church, were approved by the wise and good, 
by the most sound in the orthodox faith, in different and distant sec- 
tions of the Union, and that they were adopted by some excellent pas- 
tors, to be read in their social meetings. These articles are at the ser- 
yice of those who may wish to review the substance of a year and a 



27 

half's discourses, before they decide that I have not maintained "sound 
doctrine." 

I have thought it necessary to refer to tiiese printed expressions of my 
views, believing that I may afiirm them to be perfectly fair specimens 
of myself I am what 1 was before you knew me, grown, I would hope, 
to sornewhat riper fruit, but from the same stock, and with the same sap, 
and from the same vine, as, 1 may trust, appears in my Sermons for 
Children, and, at a later period, in the Telescope, and the Observer of 
the Times ; and, at a still later, in my Sermons from the Birds and 
Lilies. What I have been, I am, and with the fairest chance of being 
known to you and to the world. If I was enabled to take heed to my 
doctrine before you called me, and in my earlier years among you, I 
may dare to say, without fear of gainsaying, 1 continue in it. Would 
that it might be that, in so doing, I may save myself and those who 
hear me. 

In order that it may be seen on what ground I make this assertion, 
a further statement is needful. The following brief history and refer- 
ences will open matters worthy of your careful reflection, before you 
proceed to any measures touching the character of my ministry. 

On the 9th of April, 1834, I read before the church my reasons for 
declining the charge of a four days meeting, then for the third time 
proposed by certain members. The original document is in my hands, 
for such uses as may be required hereafter. On the 14th of the same 
month, I met, at the house of Capt Crowell, certain members, who, he 
informed me, were dissatisfied with that paper. At that meeting, be- 
sides the matter which I expected to be in hand, objections were made 
to the doctrinal character of my ministry. I quote from my private 
memorandum of that meeting, the substance of my own remarks, after 
the astounding information that certain brethren considered me erro- 
neous and deficient as implied in that extract, which is as follows : 
•• You have something else to do more important than to think of a 
four days meeting. If I do not preach the doctrine of the sinner's 
depravity — extreme, total — that he is in every respect lost, except 
by the gospel; if I do not keep in view the distinction between 
the saint and the sinner, and distinctly show that man cannot be 
saved but by the Spirit of God, renewing and sanctifying the heart, 
then is the four days meeting a very small question, in comparison of 
the question before you, and the sooner you dispose of it the better. 
If I have been preaching among you more than four years, and con- 
versing with you freely, and if there is any reason to say that we do 
not have these great truths, then is there something to be done; and I 
advise you, as the guardians of that truth on which this church is 
based, to see that it does not perish in your hands." 

On the first Sabbath of May, 1834, five years from my first appear- 
ance before you as a Christian minister, I met the question of my 
preaching publicly, but not until I had learned that those dissatisfied 
had made their dissatisfaction public, nor until my brethren in the 
ministry had informed me that they had received verbal and written 
communications on the subject of my unsoundness in the faith. I then 
said to my Brother Holmes, *• If they do not know what I believe, they 
shall know the next Sabbath ; and there shall not be one who shall 
leave the house saying that this is the first time we have heard from 



- 28 

our minister the sentiments he avows on the first Sabbath of May, 
1834." 

Accordingly, on that Sabbath I appeared before you in two dis- 
courses which I am now to refer to, the one from the text, — '* The 
Son of man is come to seek and save that which is lost ;" in which I 
repeated my views of Christian truth, and referred to various discourses 
in which they had been considered with great care and labor, several 
of which had been twice preached before you. The other discourse 
followed from the text, — *' If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who 
shall prepare himself for the battle?" and was an appeal to the whole 
community concerning my doctrine.* * 

Let me say that 1 did think I had fulfilled my expectation, and that 
I dismissed an assembly that day convinced that they had heard the 
great doctrines of the gospel, and that not for the Jirst time from my 
lips ; nor did I hear any thing to undeceive me, privately or publicly; 
and for years from that day I proceeded in my work on the presump- 
tidn that I enjoyed your united confidence; nor had I any occasion to 
refer to the matter again until near four years more had elapsed — so 
long was the all-important question suffered to lie still ! 

During the last winter I had occasion to know, at first, that my pro- 
ceedings, and at length that my views, were unsatisfactory to the mem- 
bers of the church, whose dissatisfaction had been expressed before. I 
shall close this paper by referring to my subsequent discourses, which 
were intended to bring before the church and the people the whole 
character of my ministry, and to do this once for all, completing as I 
thought, all that was or could be needful to enable them to decide on 
any questions concerning our mutual relations which might arise, and 
such as might bring to bear upon their minds the whole weight of the 
ministry of years. The discourses were as follows : t 

1. On the 28th of January, 1838, I repeated a discourse from 2 Cor. 
vi. 1, which, in connection with others from the same text, I had 
preached seven months before. The pastoral appeal, that you receive 
not the grace of God in vain, was closed in that discourse on the 
ground of the divine co-operation with the pastoral office — of a power 
not in the officer, but ivith the officer whom God has appointed. This 
last article was enlarged for the occasion ; and the presence of the 
Divine Spirit with a faithful ministry was again asserted, as in the fol- 
lowing sentences : " Did I suppose there ever had been a time, did I 
suppose there ever would be a time, in which I might not urge the gos- 
pel with every assurance of the presence of the Holy Spirit, I would 
retire from a service in which I was unsupported by power from on 
high." '* On these principles I came among you, asserting, on the 
very first Sabbath, namely. May 3, J 829, with fulness and earnest- 
ness, the doctrine of the ever present Spirit, from John xvi. 7, 
and, standing before you this day, I do but renew before you the only 
gospel whch I have tried to recommend — the only gospel in which 
I dare to glory." "I will not offer a gospel of which I and you 
might be justly ashamed — a gospel which, in the fulness of the Spirit's 
presence, passes and is gone." " Rather may I have grace to assert 

* See p. 12, ante. 

t See these discourses, at length, in " Sermons on Public Worship." 



29 

thy presence, Divine Spirit, and to say with all encouragement, my few 
remaining years, — ** Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall 
find." 

" The land of silence and of death 

Awaits my next remove; 
O may those poor remains of hreath 

Teach the wide world ihy love." 

2. On February 4, 183S, I preached from 2 Cor. iv. 3: "If our 
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost ;" especially regarding the 
words *' our gospel." Having asserted that there is but one gospel, 
and my own understanding of it. I endeavored to show how the apostle 
and his brethren proclaimed that one gospel in a lustre and light sev- 
erally their own, each in a manner peculiar to himself; and then, that 
in their degree, all ministers proclaim the one true gospel most per- 
fectly and gloriously, when they do it from the depth of their own per- 
sonal experience; and " that they who would receive profit from the 
ministry set over them, must expect it chiefly in its own peculiar and 
special light." I then spoke freely of myself, aiming to preach the one 
only gospel, and yet preaching it even as I have received it and found 
it my guide along the path of life. I referred to my varied course, and 
to the views of truth which that course had made precious to myself, 
and important in my apprehension; and I ventured to ask, — " Oh, is 
our gospel any other than the gospel, and is it ours in any other sense 
than that we show it forth as we have received it, as we have seen 
and felt and handled of the word of life." 

3. On February II, in view of your meeting of church members of 
the 14th, and of public manifestations on the part of certain brethren, 
I preached a sermon still regarding the words ** ou?- gospel/' assuring 
you that mi/ gospel was yours as m.uch as mine — ours mutually, if, in- 
deed, it be the one only and true gospel. I then said, with much more, 
** My brethren, the ministry is no separate and solitary office. The 
terms " our gospel " are, indeed, not without their meaning and their 
power, when considered merely in the light of a minister's own expe- 
rience and example ; but with what new encouragement, with what 
fresh courage, and with what increased power, may they be spoken, in 
the name and on the behalf and at the instance of the church ! The 
co-operation of the church ! the aid and encouragement of the church ! 
the sympathy of the church ! in its great and saving principles are 
necessary to give to any ministry its best encouragement and highest 
success." 

In order to make it manifest that my gospel and your gospel, united 
in our mutual gospel, I quoted from two sermons preached before you 
gave me a call to become your pastor, both of which were marked with 
those peculiarities which may have grown out of my own peculiar 
course of life. I referred to your approbation of those views in giving 
me your call, and to the requirement of them at my hands which you 
have signified in receiving from me the symbols of them in every Lord's 
supper. I shall close this review with an extract from that sermon, 
which I beg you to receive as my present charge, in the weighty mat- 
ter which you have assembled to consider. 

" Brethren, as I look back to the time when you received first otir 



30 

gospel as yours, and when you required me to publish it as our mutual 
gospel, I can say, and do say, with thanksgiving — not without a deep 
sense of sins, which God has searched out and shown me — ' Having 
obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to 
small and great, saying none other things' than those pledged at our 
first Lord's supper. And O, let me claim, by all the expectation of a 
Christian pastor — Receive me as you received me, your servant for 
Jesus' sake. Discard me, when I prove unfaithful to the truths on 
which we met as pastor and church — when I prove unfaithful to the 
duties which belong to me as an overseer of Christ's flock — when I 
dishonor my doctrines and my professions by unworthy conduct. Dis- 
card me the very moment you cannot stand -by me without denying 
those great truths — without fading, yourselves, in the duties of mem- 
bers of Christ's flock — without approving the wickedness of a hypo- 
critical life. Discard me, if you tind me betraying my Master to his 
enemies. But if, knowing my manner of life for eight years, you see 
cause to believe that I came among you with honesty and sincerity, as 
a believer and minister of your Redeemer and mine ; if, year after 
year, and month after month, and day after day, I have seemed to bear 
an honest witness to the gospel, as the source of my own hope and 
yours — as the only source of hope to sinful man ; if you have seen me 
evidently looking unto Jesus as the author and finisher of my own 
faith and yours, and earnestly desiring with you thus to lay aside every 
weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us ; if you have found me, 
on the Sabbath, and in meetings throughout your bounds, and beside 
every man's path in my daily walks, recommending and urging the 
ever present Spirit — the Spirit on man's whole path of life — your gos- 
pel and mine; if you have seen me thus, though it be in weakness, 
and fear, and much trembling; — then beware, lest, in discarding my 
gospel, you discard your oicn — lest, in discarding me, you discard your- 
se/yes--lest, in withdrawing the people from my gospel, you withdraw 
them from your own, and evil to yourselves and others be the issue of 
your hasty and hurried good intentions ; — then beware lest, in your 
zeal for the moment, you undo and prevent the work of years — lest 
you check the stream of fjood which has flown down from your fathers, 
in its progress to your children and your children's children, and make 
your gospel a by-word and a scorn, when it should have shone among 
men in the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of 
Jesus Christ." — Sermons on Public Worship, page 206. 

I have, in conclusion, but to beg of the few but beloved brethren 
who have expressed their dissatisfaction, to reflect deeply and prayer- 
fully on the matters now brought before them; and to ask themselves 
whether they can justify themselves any longer in a course which pre- 
vents them from giving their whole influence in aid of a ministry 
which they chose with the fairest possible opportunity of knowing its 
character and principles, after half a life spent uncommonly before 
the public; — a ministry which, with all its imperfections, has been such 
as they had every reason to expect when they made that choice ; — a min- 
istry which does but proclaim their own gospel, in the lights which it 
has pleased the Lord to shed on its own path ; — a ministry against 
which they urge no charge, either in character or conduct — no charge 



31 

except in views and proceedings. Will those brethren any longer 
hinder the inflaence of their pastor on themselves, in his kind and ear- 
nest efforts for tiieir own spiritual welfare, and growth in grace. Will 
they any lonrrer hinder the influence of the most important trutlis upon 
the church and public at large, by expressions of dissatisfaction and 
want of confidence? Who knows but the only thing lacking, to 
crown us with blessings — to open the windows of heaven and pour 
down a blessing which there shall not be room to receive — is that this 
hindrance of years should be removed, and that their prayers and 
efforts for the success of their own gospel should be added to the sin- 
cere, earnest, continued efforts and prayers of their pastor? May God 
grant us so great a blessing as united prayers and efforts in extending 
the gospel among the people. May he enable the assembled brethren 
to seek and obtain such wisdom from above, that they will not do what 
they may have occasion to regret, nor leave undone one single thing 
which their duty to God and the church requires at their hands, and 
may he crown this day with blessings. 

Your affectionate and devoted pastor, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 
Wareham, August 3, 1838. 

To the Church assembled Aug. 17, 1838. 

Dear Brethren, — You are now called to consider whether you will 
take any measures, and if any, what measures upon the following vote 
of a meeting of church members held on the 3d of August, namely, 
** The following vote was taken to show who were pleased with the 
preaching and procedure of the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., declared^i?e 
in favor — twelve opposed." I believe I am not only authorised, but 
required to understand that the opposed, desire the dissolution of the 
pastoral relation. It is not yet a year since I supposed that all but 
three or four were as well satisfied with my preaching and procedure 
as in their first love for me ; and that even these had not on the whole, 
any serious desire that a dissolution should take place — that on the 
whole, even these were receiving my well meant and kindly meant 
labors, with goodwill if not with preference. I acknowledge of course, 
my surprise and disappointment to be met in the vote before you with 
the round number of a dozen, made up as it must be of some whom I 
supposed to have full confidence in their pastor. One report that 
I have heard, I have ventured to say must be a mistake, that some 
oppose who but yesterday took shelter under my wings ; and one, 
who even the last Lord's Day, sought and recived at my hands, one of 
the most tender and affectionate offices of a Christian minister. In 
this state of the case, with a dissatisfaction as unaccountable to myself 
as if it were grounded upon the charge of my being two feet shorter 
than I am — yet which has manifestly grown — and which therefore I 
shall not flatter myself may not grow farther, I meet you this day — 
with the determination to do all I can to bring it to an issue ; to try 
to do faithfully all I ought that the issue may be right. I expect to 
to take my lot if need be in this fluctuating ministry — here to-day and 
there to-morrow ; cast out as unworthy in one place where it had been 



32 

received with all honor, a few months or years before — to be receivedi 
with all honor in the next^ to be again cast out with as early dishonor, 
as if the ministry had no character or the churches no discernment 
and stability — but believing that such a state of things is as great an 
evil to the churches as to the ministry, I have not allowed myself to 
come before you in this matter for the first time in church meetings 
without a written and full preparation to utter my whole mind. Once 
for all, and as it now seems to me not only for you, but for whoever 
may have cause to review and adjudge your proceedings. Once for 
all, whether for this church or the churches — 1 wish to say what, 
before you take any measures, I owe to this church, to this parish, 
to this town, and to all the churches ; for no man in these matters 
liveth to himself After which I shall cheerfully leave this church to 
their own decisions, and will put the votes which may express their 
disapprobation and decide their measures of dissolution with all readi- 
ness of mind : not for the first time in my life committing my case to 
God. All concerned must expect me to speak without reserve, with- 
out fear or favor in this matter ; and I expect this church to meet the 
ease either way, with decision and energy. On whichever side they 
may see cause to act, this is no matter for trifling or lingering. / 
have no idea of trifling or being trifled vnth, in such a matter. I have 
sustained a fair character as a true and faithful minister, for twenty- 
eight years, and it shall not be lightly taken from me. If you decide 
against me, I make an issue before the churches and the world. If 
you decide for me — I claim of you that you require the acquiescence 
of these dissatisfied brethren, or that they make an issue with you 
before the churches^ This dissatisfaction has been struggling for years 
to make a stand before a community, holding at large, a perfect confi- 
dence in their pastor — and it has at length made a front which however 
small it may seem, is now to be fairly and finally met, how, in my 
opinion, I proceed to say. 

I. If you decide against your pastor — then your pastor has a right 
to demand, and he does demand, that you do forthwith appoint a com- 
mittee with the following jx)wers : 

1. To request the parish to give the pastor six months^ notice ac- 
cording to their contract, and to unite with him in calling a council 
to meet at the end of that notice to investigate ** his preaching and 
procedure ;" to decide whether the church had cause for their request, 
to the parish and to dissolve the pastoral relation. Or, 

2. In failure of the action of the parish for the dissolution of the 
pastoral relation, then, that this committee have power to request the 
pastor to unite with them in calling a council of the churches to inves- 
tigate his " preaching and procedure," and to see if there be in the 
premises, just cause for a dissolution of the pastoral relation. 

II. On the other hand— if this church decides in favor of their pastor 
— then it is both my duty and my right to claim, and I hereby do claim, 
an action on their part in substance as follows : 

1. A resolution of continued — and if the church can consistently 
say so — of increased confidence in their pastor after the experience of 
his services for nine years. 

2. A resolution expressiag theii affectionate and earnest desire, that^ 



S3 

V 

the dissatisfied brethren would prayerfully and solemnly review the 
grounds of their dissatisfaction ; and to see if those can be solid 
grounds, of which they cannot convince their own brethren. 

3. A resolution claiming of these brethren, as belonging to their 
covenant obligations, that they acquiesce in the decision of this church, 
and as in duty bound, co-operate with the church and pastor in every 
work of faith and labor of love. 

4. A resolution, requiring of these brethren, if they do not thus 
acquiesce and co-operate, then that they proceed without delay to an 
issue before the parish for a six months' notice, and such notice having 
been given before a mutual council at the end of that six months, for 
an investigation of the " preaching and procedure" of the pastor, and 
to see if there be in them just ground for a dissolution — and to dis- 
solve the pastoral relation ; or failing of the action of the parish, that 
they proceed to request a mutual council, without delay, to inves- 
tigate the " preaching and procedure of the pastor," and to see if 
there be in the premises just cause for a dissolution of the pastoral 
relation. 

5. Resolved further that, unless the dissatisfied brethren make this 
issue — this church and their pastor are in duty bound to proceed with 
mutual affection and diligence in their great work of mutual edifica- 
tion and public usefulness ; burying forever the dissatisfaction which 
has been expressed in kind oblivion, as a subject which has no occa- 
sion even to be named. 

Making on my own part, this decided issue in the case, I proceed to- 
lay the necessary information before you, in such a form as will leave 
little or nothing to be added, on my part, before any future tribunal, 
I call first for the reading of my letter to the " meeting of church 
members held on the 3d instant." 

The document which has now been read, I intended to be a full 
view of the case before the meeting of the 3d August, or before any 
subsequent tribunal. And if the documents referred to be consulted — 
and especially " the reasons for declining the charge of a four days' 
meeting, April, 1834," and that part of my sermon on the 4th of 
February, 1838 — which unfolds the rise and growth of my own pro- 
minent views of principles of pastoral procedure,*! can conceive noth- 
ing more needful on my part, either before this meeting or any future 
tribunal. The papers just referred to are here present, with a mass of 
written discourses belonging to the whole course of my ministry, to be 
examined as much or as little as you may see cause, in order to enable 
you to come to a just decision in the case before you. 

Leaving then my case as abundantly before you, I have only to 
urge you to decision — after having presented a brief historical review, 
and expressed my oivn clear and decided judgment in the case. 

This community, nine years ago, being in a very distracted state, 
and with little prospect of the union which ensued, — this church 
sought, as they thought, a pastor from the Lord, whose presence among 
them might be as oil upon the troubled waters. It pleased their 
gracious Master, as they and their sister churches thought, to answer 
their prayers — to send them a man of mature age — from peculiar cir- 

* See Public Worship, p. 175, the author's account of himself. 



34 

cumstances very widely known — of established character — in the full 
confidence of a most orthodox Presbytery of the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian church — and of the entire Orthodox church of which 
he was then a pastor. IVlay I not say with fair evidence of being " a 
man after God's own heart." So at least this church received him — 
and as if a miracle were wrought before their eyes in answer to their 
prayers, he was welcomed by a united community, instead of becom- 
ing, as they might have feared, the mere subject of discord and con- 
tention. This union, in which they and their sister churches rejoiced 
as an answer from the Lord, was produced with the strictest adherence 
to the great truths on which this church is founded — and to a very 
great extent by the very same discourses which had passed with unex- 
cepted approbation before the most orthodox churches and ministers in 
the land ; it may be by means of two advantages, peculiar to the indi- 
vidual to whom you were providentially directed : 

1. The pastor who was sent you was from a region separate entirely 
from the controversies of Massachusetts ; and of course with the 

advantage of preaching the whole truth without the inconvenience of 
a controversial form, as perhaps would have been nearly impossible if 
the same person had spent his whole life within fifty miles of Boston. 

2. The pastor who was sent you, was a man whom it had pleased 
Providence to educate in three quarters of the globe — in an acquaint- 
ance with the Mohammedan, Pagan, and Christian world — and whose 
principles at forty years of age, had been formed and settled amidst 
the peculiar experience of the path in which he had been led. 

This pastor, who had passed the trial of the soundest theologians 
and churches without a whisper of disapprobation, came among your 
discordant population, and was kindly received — universally, mar- 
vellously, by all parties; it may be, because without any wisdom of your 
own you had been directed to a man, who had not been in the circle 
of your former disputes ; whose temper, habits and principles had 
been formed by discipline in a field as wide as the world. The very 
thing happened which you all desired ; the very blessing which you 
prayed for, which should have been welcomed with continued thanks- 
giving and co-operation. Must it be said, if God had been less gracious 
any of you would have been better satisfied? Was it to be expected, 
and shall it any longer be true, that your own body shall be the only 
starting point of disunion — the only organ of hindrance to the work of 
a sound, earnest and faithful pastor — shall themselves undo the work 
which Providence did in answer to their prayers? Let the dissatisfied 
brethren review the case, and see if they are not required to aid the 
work of their pastor by their hearty co-operation, as well as by an ex- 
ample of all that is lovely and of good report. 

It remains now that I express ray own clear and decided judgment 
in this case. 

I have not lived nearly fifty years without some knowledge of myself, 
and of the character which I may fairly say I sustain with the wise and 
good. God knows that I have not lived fifty years without having 
learned some of those lessons of humiliation which he has taught as 
kindly as faithfully — and which forbid that I should speak absolutely 
well of myself. But I see nothing in this consciousness — deep as I 



35 

feel it — which forbids my own decided expressions concerning myself 
— and 1 will not allow myself by a false modesiy to fail of saying what 
1 believe will be found to be true, should you proceed to any measures 
touching the continuance of my ministry among you. I speak only of 
the past up to this present hour; and with thanksgiving for aiding 
and preserving grace. For the future I would adopt the caution of 
the apostle: Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 
Let then this church know my full conviction that it will appear to the 
satisfaction of all who may review these matters — that they have 
grounds of confidence in their pastor in the four following particulars: 
L In the soundness of my doctrines, according to the great principles 
of their own creed and covenant, and of all orthodox churches ; and that 
whatever questions may have been stated in this matter are such as 
might be stated with regard to the inspired apostles themselves, each 
expressing divine truth in a manner peculiarly his own, and each giv- 
ing peculiar prominence to the truths which most affect his own mind, 
or the state of the taught required — such, in a word, as might be stated 
concerning John in comparison with Paul, or James in comparison 
with Peter, or of either of these apostles in comparison with them- 
selves in the separate portions of their instructions. 

2. In my ministerial fidelity — and that steadily for nine years — and 
that all questions of procedure touch only matters in which the word 
of God has given no command, and in which the churches have no 
rule, of course in which every minister must be his own judge, espe- 
cially in times of fluctuation and change. 

3. In an exemplary temper and conduct. 

4. In uninterrupted kindness of intercourse with the few brethren 
who have expressed themselves dissatisfied. 

Brethren, are not these four things sol I make no claim in either 
to perfection, and in each of the four it is my daily prayer to leave the 
things behind, and press forward to the things before ; but yet I dare 
appeal to my assembled church, after nine years charge over them, 
Brethren, are not these four things so 1 Will you not honor the 
grace of God in me, by saying these four things are so? Canvass all 
my publications, all my preaching, and all my conduct among you, and 
tell me — do I utterly deceive myself, when I say, I expect yow?- testimo- 
ny that these things are so? Do I utterly deceive myself, when I say, 
that after my dissatisfied brethren have studied these matters more 
carefully, even tlicT/ will not be able to stand before the assembled 
churches in this house and say that these fow things are not so ! Nay, 
more ; do I utterly deceive myself, when I say, I feel perfectly assured 
that I might safely waive my privilege before the churches, and sub- 
mit myself to the judgment of twelve churches drawn from this whole 
commonwealth by these dissatisfied brethren themselves; and that, 
when these papers should have been read, and the proofs referred to 
examined, and the testimony of these very brethren taken and can- 
vassed, along with that of the whole community; — do I utterly deceive 
myself in saying that such a council, called by the dissatisfied them- 
selves, would say that these four things are so ? and that, up to this 
day, these brethren are opposed without cause in the midst of an at- 
tached church and people, and that these brethren would meet the re- 
buke of the very council which themselves should call ? 



36 

And if these things are so, let me ask those brethren to consider 
■what they are about ; whether it may relate to rne, as their pastor, or 
their fellowship with an adhering church. Can they justify themselves 
before their meek and lowly Master, in further troubling the very wa- 
ters on which the oil was poured in answer to their prayers'? Un- 
der the influence of an excited mind, they may for a season dwell 
upon single expressions of the most scriptural character, until they 
may convince themselves that all other truth is hidden or forgotten, 
as they might on the expressions of the apostles, or even of our Lord 
himself; and they may dwell upon the proceedings of the pastor, until 
they convince themselves that there can be no pastoral fidelity unless 
in conformity to measures in which the word of God has given no 
command, and the churches have no rule ; and under this excitement 
they may hasten to measures, involving the welfare of themselves, 
their families, the church, and the people. But the time of excite- 
ment must pass away ; and measures taken in excitement will hasten 
to their issues; and the period of sobriety and reflection must come; 
and when it does come, sooner or later, the path must be retrodden, 
whether by the dissatisfied brethren, or the community whom they may 
have induced to go with them, It cannot be, if these four things are true, 
that proceedings grounded on their untruth can prove a solid founda- 
tion for this church and people. 

And now, brethren, the whole case is before you, as I am willing to 
rest it before you, the parish, the churches, and the world; and, as a 
conscientious officer in the Lord's house, as I do rest it, with my Lord 
and Master. I am before you, in my publications, in my ministry, in 
my whole character and conduct. As far as man can be known by 
his fellow-man, you have the fullest opportunity to know me ; and it is 
yours to decide, not on the dissolution of the pastoral relation, but on 
such measures as may bring the parish to forewarn, or the churches tO 
decide; and, again, not in the first case to decide on the expediency of 
a dissolution, in connection with a causeless dissatisfaction, but wheth- 
er the dissatisfaction have such grounds as cancel the obligations of 
the church. And now make up your minds deliberately, calmly, prayer- 
fully, decidedly, with a sense of your responsibility to me as your pas- 
tor; to this church and to this community, now and in all coming 
time ; to your children and your children's children ; to all the 
churches, and to the great Head of the church himself I say again, 
/ have no idea of trifling or of being trifled with in this matter. I shall 
not take on myself the responsibility of proceeding to measures of dis- 
solution, adding my example to the causes of instability in the churches. 
I shall not dismiss myself, but abide in my lot the issue of your meas- 
ures, or of the measures of the dissatisfied brethren. And now go with 
your pastor, if you think him true and faithful. Go with him, but in 
utmost kindness to your brethren, to whom he knows no other senti- 
ment. He wishes no friendship to himself v^hich is unfriendly to any 
human being; above all, to any member of Christ's visible body. But 
never think that brotherly kindness forbids your firm and unshaken 
adherence to the pastor whom God and the churches have set over 
you at your own request, if, after knowing him for nine years, your 
confidence in him has not diminished, but increased. Give no en- 



37 

couragement, by your indecision, to a causeless dissatisfaction to be- 
come itself a cause of separation between pastor and church, unless you 
would sow the seeds and reap the harvests of perpetual dissatisfaction 
and dismissals. Do not yourselves the dishonor of taking measures of 
separation from a pastor who you think has dealt kindly and faithfully 
with you, and whom you would still expect to be a star in the 
churches of your Lord ; but, if you have a firm and growing confi- 
dence in your pastor, then dismiss this subject, which has been for 
years, now coming to life, and now dying again and now reviving — 
dismiss it definitely, distinctly, solemnly. Put your decisive vote upon 
the subject, and let it be known that, as a body, you are ready to sus- 
tain and cheer your pastor in his work, by your countenance, your as- 
sistance, your obedience in the Lord, and your prayers. I claim de- 
cision at your hands. 

But if you think your pastor unsound, unfaithful — if, on any good 
grounds, you are ** opposed " to his preaching and procedure, and if 
you think him unworthy of the pastoral office in other churches — then 
go against your pastor, and proceed to the proper measures of dissolu- 
tion. I am ready for the issue, and I claim it at your hands. If this 
plainness of speech, this fair demand, this decisive pastoral injunction, 
can break the bond that unites us, let it be broken. If it cannot, let it 
unite us more firmly. I await your action after the manner I have laid 
down. But if you go with your pastor, then declare with him that you 
await the action of the dissatisfied brethren, after the manner laid 
down, and according to the customs of the churches. 

This being done, our future course will be clear. If neither the 
church nor the dissatisfied brethren proceed to issue the matter with 
the parish or the churches, I shall go forward seeking the spiritual 
welfare of my whole church and people with an aflfection and a desire 
for their welfare which has never been impaired, and which excepts 
not from its embrace of love and kindness a single individual ; and in 
the hope that a case decisively and affectionately laid aside by all con- 
cerned, will never hereafter be named among us; and that, this hin- 
drance being out of the way, the word of the Lord may have free 
course and be glorified among us, beyond all that either we or our 
fathers have known. I devoted my early life honestly and earnestly to 
my Lord and Master, and I have reached near my fiftieth year, I trust 
in some humble consistency with that devotedness and with a mind 
full of purposes of usefulness to my special charge and the church and 
the world at large, quickened and deepened by the grown and growing 
sense that I must soon render an account of my stewardship. Let me 
claim of you all, and especially of my brethren in advanced life, that 
they leave me free-hearted and free-handed to my work, and that they 
unite with me in the kind and earnest efforts, which alone can prepare 
them, as well as myself, for a pleasant evening of life, and for the re- 
wards of the FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 

" The land of silence and of death 

Awaits our next remove : 
O may these poor remains of breath 

Teach the wide world thv love." 



38 

Voted, That the house be divided, in order to ascertain how many 
members of the church were dissatisfied with the pastor. 

On the house being divided, it appeared thsit eleven were dissatisfied, 
and twenty-six satisfied, with their pastor. 

The second, third, fourth, and fifth resolutions proposed in the pas- 
tor's letter were then passed.* 

At a church meeting, September 7, 1838, on the request of the pe- 
titioners for the meeting that the third resolution passed at the last 
meeting (August 17) be reconsidered so far as relates to the action of 
the parish, — decided in the negative. Affirmative, thirteen ; nega- 
ative, fifteen. 

January 11, 1840. 

At a church meeting on the request " to unite in calling a mutual 
advisory council, to lay the case of the dissatisfied members of this 
church before them in relation to their dissatisfaction with their pas- 
tor," on motion that the third vote of August 17, 1838, be reconsider- 
ed, the motion was lost. Yeas, fourteen; nays, fifteen. The follow- 
ing resolutions were then passed. No. 1 , yeas, fourteen ; nays, thir- 
teen. The remaining, yeas, fifteen ; nays, seven. 

Voted, (1), That, even though the way remained clear for a mutual 
council, the only propositions consistent with ecclesiastical usage and 
the equity of the case were made to them and those who acted with 
them, August 17, 1838; and that any council without the powers then 
proposed, and whose decisions are not final with both parties to the 
council, is useless and inadmissible. 

Voted, (2), That, owing to the course which the petitioners have 
since taken, the way is not now clear for a mutual council, as proposed 
and urged in the votes of August 17, 1838, unless this church would 
subvert all the principles by which church order and public worship are 
maintained ; unless they would proceed to the question of a dissolution 
of the pastoral relation on principles which, in their due course, would 
prevent any re-establishment of the pastoral office over this church and 
people. 

Voted, (3), That, in withdrawing themselves from the parish, as 
they are certified to have done in March last by the parish clerk, they 
did, in fact, prejudge their own cause, choose their own remedy, and 
determine the penalty upon the church and parish, either of losing the 
pastor whom they were mutually bound to sustain, or of supplying that 
portion of the stipulated salary which they withdrew ; and did, in effect, 
so far as their action was concerned, decide the dissolution of the pas- 
toral relation, without reference to the mutual council oflfered and 
urged upon them, and the only umpire acknowledged in our church, 
parish, and pastoral contracts, in our ecclesiastical customs, and in the 
laws of this commonwealth : 

That, in so doing, they did actually break their general covenant, 
" to walk with this church in all the ordinances of the gospel" — their 
special covenant, with regard to the present pastor — their agreement 
with the parish, proffered in the vote of the church, May 22, 1829, 
calling the present pastor, ** provided the parish concur therein " — 

* See ante, pp. 32, 33. 



39 

their individual agreement as parishioners with their co-parishioners in 
the parish call — and, histly, their promise to the pastor, binding so long 
as the pastoral relation is not regularly dissolved — and that thus they 
have rendered themselves liable to church censures and disabilities : 

That three of the petitioners have added the still farther breach of 
covenant, and are still farther subject to that liability, unless, upon 
inquiry, they should show good cause for their absence from the Lord's 
table, and their partial or uniform absence from public worship since 
their withdrawal from the parish. 

Voted, (4), That this church has been waiting, in anxious expecta- 
tion and hope, of seeing their brethren return frou) the error of their 
proceedings, and are disposed still so to wait; and therefore will not 
now decide what censures and disabilities belong to iheir case, save 
only that they are not entitled to avail themselves of the propositions 
made to them on the \lth of August, 1838, offering and vrging a mu- 
tual council. 

Voted, (5), That this church do earnestly entreat their brethren to 
pause and consider their course, as at variance with all the principles 
of church order, and subversive of all the principles on which parishes 
and churches can concur in the settlement and support of pastors, or 
pastors can consent to take charge of churches and parishes, and 
which, if allowed and sanctioned by the church, and made a precedent 
for the future, must remove all power in the church alone, or in the 
church and parish united, to maintain public ordinances. Let those 
brethren pause and consider that continuance in a course manifestly 
wrong, cannot bring them to a right end ; and when they have turned 
from their present error, then let them, if they continue to be dissatis- 
fied with the pastor, take the orderly course for issuing their cause. 

Voted, (6), 'I'hat, when they have done thus, the way will be clear 
without the violation of the only principles on which this church, with 
or without the parish, can maintain public ordinances, to renew the 
propositions for a mutual council, voted August 17, 1838. 

Vi)ted, (7), That Abisha Barrows, William Barrows, Deacon Ebene- 
zer Crocker, Dr. Peter Mackie, and Silvanus Bourne, be a committee, 
acting with the pastor, with full power to unite with the petitioners in 
calling a mutual council, according to the votes of August 17, 1838, 
whenever they shall be duly certified that the conditions of the above 
votes this day made have been fulfilled. 

Voted, (8), That this church renew their expression of earnest de- 
sire and prayer that the dissatisfied brethren would acquiesce and co- 
operate with them and the pastor ; and that, if they do not, they do 
earnestly beg and require that they will make no delay in bringing their 
cause to an oMerly issue before the churches. Almost a year and a 
half have elapsed since the propositions for such issue were made by 
this church, and they have not been yet informed that one orderly step 
has been taken. *' These things ought not so to be." 

Voted, (9), That this church forewarn their brethren that, unless 
they retrace their steps, other censures and disabilities are unavoidable; 
that the very existence, as well as the regular administration of the ordi- 
nances of the church forbid that members of the church should be 
held in good and regular standing; and, above all, that its deacon 
should be held regularly in office, when persisting in the violation of 
their covenant obligations. 



40 

Voted, (10), That these declarations of principles, in application to 
the present condition of this church, are made with an earnest desire 
for its union, now and hereafter, and under the deep conviction that no 
true and abiding union is to be secured by destroying the bonds with- 
out which no church can be '* fitly joined together and compacted by 
that which every joint supplieth." 

Voted, (11), That these declarations are made in the fullest confi- 
dence that they are so true and so necessary, that no council, whether 
mutual or ex parte, can possibly disallow them ; and in the earnest 
prayer and hope that the petitioners themselves, on further considera- 
tion, will govern themselves by them. 

January 26, 1840. 

The following letter was laid before the church. 

" We the undersigned, aggrieved brethren and sisters of this church, 
respectfully request our dismission from the church over which the 
Rev. Samuel Nott Jr., is pastor, that we may be organized into a 
church by ourselves. Wareham, January 22, 1840." Signed by 
twelve brethren and five sisters. 

Voted, That the request of the aggrieved brethren and sisters be 
referred to the committee of five, with the pastor, appointed on the 
11th inst. to report thereon. 

Wareham, February 2, 1840. 

The following resolutions, reported by the committee, were adopted, 
viz : 

Voted, \, That the views of this church on the original, and as far 
as we know the only ground of grievance, and of the proper method 
of issuing their cause, were sufficiently declared in the votes of August 
17, 1838, and that the grounds of those votes are sufficiently set forth 
in the pastor's communication recommending their adoption ; and of 
course, that in the view of this church, there is no good and sufficient 
reason for granting the request of the aggrieved members, on account 
of their dissatisfaction as stated August 3, and renewedly expressed 
August f-7, 1838. 

2. That the views of this church on the subsequent proceedings of 
the dissatisfied brethren, and of the only orderly course from that time, 
are sufficiently declared in the votes of this church, January 11, 1840, 
on the petition of eight of their number for an advisory council ; and 
of course that there is no good and sufficient reason in the proceed- 
ings of this church subsequent to August 17, 1838, for granting their 
request. 

3. That ir? declining to refer their original dissatisfaction and 
grievance to a mutual council, according to the proffers and urgency 
of August 17, 1838, and of January 11, 1840, the brethren, though 
they may not think it, do in effect withdraw themselves not only from 
our fellowship, but from the fellowship of the churches, and might 
fairly be considered as incapable of a regular dismission, in the 
position of separation and independency which they have thus chosen ; 
and of course might be left to their voluntary exclusion from our fel- 
lowship and the fellowship of churches, and self-doomed to the divi- 



41 

sions among themselves which are the natural consequences — but that 
imputing both their course and their original dissatisfaction to errors 
in judgment unaccountable to us, we will lay no bar in the way of their 
request other than exists in the nature of the case and in the recorded 
doings of this church, and will do what in us lies as on their former 
request, to re-open the very way which themselves have shut; so that 
should their dismission for any cause take effect, they may receive it 
under all the privileges and obligations which belong to church fellow- 
ship and to the fellowship of the churches; yet always expressing to 
the last our unfeigned desire and hope that our brethren and sisters, 
at length convinced of their own misjudgment, will yet return wel- 
comed to our bosoms, and according to the expression of Aug. 17, 
1838, ''proceed with us, in mutual affection and diligence in the great 
work of mutual edification and public usefulness, burying forever the 
dissatisfaction that has been expressed in kind oblivion, as a subject 
which has no occasion even to be named," 

4. That the request to be dismissed, to be organized into a church 
by themselves as aggrieved members ; and especially considering their 
number and the circumstances of the community, is the highest re- 
affirmation of their original grounds of dissatisfaction ; and cannot be 
granted on those grounds without leaving this church before the com- 
munity, before the neighboring churches and the world, under the 
reproach of sustaining a grievance ivhich is good and sufficient cause 
of separation — and of course of being untrue to the foundation on 
which this church is built: — And therefore that this church owe it to 
their own character and influence in this community, to the memory 
of their fathers who bequeathed to them the gospel, and to posterity, to 
whom they would hand it down unimpaired ; and to the fellowship of 
the churches in which they stand, and to the great Head of the church 
himself, to call upon their brethren to show cause before the churches 
why their request should be granted. 

5. That the aggrieved members, in asking for their dismission as 
such, have brought this church at length to a point, where we, at least, 
must have a council, whose decisions are final in the case, whether our 
brethren will accept it or not; and since the question is now upon the 
dismission of the members, and not on the dismission of the minister, 
where, though we might justly, we need not necessarily insist on the 
conditions required in the votes of January 11, 1840, in order to sus- 
tain the great principles therein involved, before offering a mutual 
council; and therefore, if the applicants concur therein, we do refer 
their request to the consideration ancf decision of a mutual council, to 
be called in the following form, namely : 

Whereas twelve brethren and five sisters of this church, styling 
themselves aggrieved, have requested a dismission, that they may be 
formed into a church by themselves. This is to request you, by your 

reverend pastor and delegate, to meet in mutual council on , at 

, to decide and act in the matter as follows : 

(I). Whether the original grievance on record in the former doings 
of this church, namely, •' the preaching and procedure of the pastor," 
be a good and sufficient reason for dismissing these members, to be re- 
organized into a church by themselves. 

(2). If the former question should be answered in the negative, then 
to decide whether it be expedient^ without good and sufficient reasons 



42 

for their original grievance, to dismiss them, to be organized into a 
church by themselves. 

(3). If the council decide in favor of their request, for either of the 
above reasons, then to organize them accordingly, leaving the min- 
utes of council to be placed on the records of this church, as consum- 
mating and authenticating their dismission and organization. 

6. That the council shall consist of not more than twelve churches, 
and that the present committee meet a committee of the applicants, 
to select the council, make arrangements for it, and issue letters mis- 
sive on Monday evening, Feb. 10, at 7 o'clock. 

7. That in case the applicants decline a mutual council, or fail to 
appear as aforesaid, then, that the present committee with the pastor, 
issue on Monday evening, February JO, letters missive to as many 
churches within the above number as they may judge best, for the pur- 
poses aforesaid, with the following addition, to wit: 4. That if both 
questions be answered in the negative, What is the duty of the church 
in regard to the position of separation from our fellowship and the 
fellowship of the churches in which the aggrieved members have 
placed themselves, and are left by the decision of the council ? 

8. That in either case the council be convened at the meeting house 
on Tuesday, February 25, at 2 P. M., and that the present committee 
with or without the aggrieved members, as the case may be, make all 
needful arrangements for the acco.mmodation of the council. 

9. That the pastor lay before council the whole record of this 
church in the matter from August 17, 1838, and his communication of 
that date to ihe church, including that of the meeting of church mem- 
bers, August 3, 1838, with so much of the printed and manuscript 
documents referred to therein as the council may require, and that the 
committee with the pastor, be instructed to make any explanations 
which the council may require ; and that the committee be instruct- 
ed to take all necessary measures for the issue of the case. 

The committee met this evening, February 10th, 1840, agreeably 
to the vote of the church of the 2d instant. The committee of the 
applicants made the following communication, viz. 

Dear Brethren, — We have examined with care, prayerfully as we 
trust, a copy of the doings of the church, in answer to our request of 
dismission with a view to being organized into a separate church, 
and hence are prepared to say, that we cannot unite in a mutual council 
as therein proposed — but are prepared to say, that we will join in a 
mutual council, the object of which shall be, to look over the whole 
ground of difficulty, with a view to advise and recommend what, un- 
der existing circumstances, may be done. We have for a considerable 
time desired such a council, but having been refused, have been driven 
to the alternative to ask our dismission as above, yet we are still ready 
to accede to the calling of such a council. 

Jeremiah Bumpus, ") 
David Bodfish, [ 

David Swift, ! ^ ... 

K r^ > Committee. 

Alvin Gibbs, j 

Benj. Blmpus, j 

Lemuel Savery, J 



43 

The committee replied that they could not accept the proposal of 
the committee of the applicants as a ground of varying the course 
marked out by the church. At the same time, and in proceeding 
themselves to call a council in behalf of the church, the committee 
offered to take, as their own first choice in the formation of that coun- 
cil, six churches, such as the committtee of the applicants should 
name, limiting the choice only to churches having regularly settled 
and installed pastors. 

The committee of the applicants thereupon laid before the commit- 
tee of the church, the following communication : — viz. 

Dear Brethren, — As you have refused to grant our request, wherein 
we said we would unite in a mutual council, the object of which should 
be to look over the whole ground of difficulty, with a view to advise 
and recommend what under existing circumstances may be done, have, 
after consultation, concluded that we will unite in the mutual council 
you proposed, excepting it shall not be final unless it results in our 
dismission, and that we have the liberty or privilege to lay before the 
council, the whole ground of difficulty, that we shall have all the 
liberty that church members have in laying our cause before the mu- 
tual council. 

The committee replied in substance as they had done to the former 
communication. Whereupon the committee of the applicants named 
the following pastors and churches in acceptance of the offer of the 
committee : 

Rev. Alvan Cobb, W. Taunton; Rev. Emerson Payne, Halifax; 
Rev. Mr. Emery, Taunton ; Rev. Mr. Putnam, Middleborough ; Rev. 
E. Dexter, Plympton ; Rev. A. Cobb, Sandwich. 

To this number the committee of the church added as follows. 

Rev. Mr. Bigelow, Rev. Dr. Cobb and Rev. Dr. Robbins and their 
respective churches. Rev. Thomas M. Smith, N. Bedford; Rev. Dr. 
Storrs, Braintree ; Rev. Dr. Tucker, Providence. 

February 20, Rev. Dr. Storrs having informed the parties that he 
could not attend, the vacancy was supplied by the Rev. Mr. Roberts, 
New Bedford. 

RESULT OF COUNCIL. 

Wareham, Feb. 25, 1840. 
Agreeably to letters missive from the Congregational church, 
Wareham, an ecclesiastical council convened this day in the Congre- 
gational meeting house in Wareham, consisting of the following 
churches, by their pastors and delegates, viz. : — 

Rochester South. Rev. O. Cobb, D. D., pastor. 

Rev. Leander Cobb, delegate. 
Do. 2d church. Rev. Dr. T. Robbins, pastor. 

Br. Branch Barrows, delegate. 
Do. Centre. Rev. Jonathan Bigelow, pastor. 

Dea. George King, delegate. 
N. Bedford, North. Rev. T. M. Smith, pastor. 

Br. Asa Hill, delegate. 
Do. Trinitarian. Rev. J. A. Roberts, pastor. 

Dea. Joshua Barker^ 4*legate. 



44 

Sandwich. Rev. Asahel Cobb, pastor. . 

Br. Joseph Nye, delegate. 
Middleborough. Rev. I. W. Putnam, pastor. 

Dea. John Freeman, delegate. 
Plympton. Rev. E. Dexter, pastor. 

Dea. Cephas Bumpas, delegate. 

The council was formed by choosing the Rev. Dr. Robbins modera- 
tor, and Rev. J. Bigelow scribe. Opened with prayer by the modera- 
tor. The letter missive was read. The church records relating to the 
matter submitted to the council were then read. 

The aggrieved members then presented their reasons for asking a 
dismission from the church in document No. 1. The council then 
took a recess till seven o'clock. After recess, the aggrieved members 
presented paper No. 2, as evidence of their reasons being well found- 
ed for asking a dismission. Council then listened to all the oral testi- 
mony which the aggrieved members saw fit to present. 

The Rev. Mr. Nott was then heard in reply, in part. The council 
then adjourned till to-morrow morning, at eight o'clock. 

Fch. 26. Council met according to adjournment. Opened with 
prayer. Rev. Mr. Nott continued his reply. Council took a recess for 
one hour. After recess, continued to hear Rev. Mr. Nott, in reply, till 
he had finished. 

The council then prayerfully considered the subject submitted to 
them, and, after mature deliberation, came unanimously to the follow- 
ing result, namely : 

Resolved, unanimously, First, That the original grievance on record 
in the former doings of the church, namely, the preaching and proce- 
dure of the pastor, is not good and sufficient reason for dismissing the 
aggrieved members, to be organized into a church by themselves, inas- 
much as they have failed to sustain the reasons which thay have as- 
signed for their request. 

Resolved, unanimously , Second, That it is expedient, in the present 
state of things, for the sake of peace, to grant the aggrieved members a 
dismission, if they persist in their request. 

Signed, Thomas Robbins, Moderator. 

Jonathan Bigelow, Scribe. 

Document No. 1. By Rev. Jona. King, acting for the aggrieved. 

Mr. Moderator, — I rise to speak on the present occasion, in behalf 
of the aggrieved members of this church, with mingled emotions — with 
feelings of no ordinary interest. It has been my privilege, sir, to meet 
with this church in her better days — her days of prosperity — and min- 
gle with its members my prayers and tears. The days to which I allude, 
sir, were those when the Rev. Noble Everett, whose remains are lodg- 
ed in yonder grave-yard, and whose sainted spirit, I doubt not, bows 
with reverence before the throne of God, was their respected pastor, 
and who, going in and out before them, broke to them the bread of 
life; but those days, sir, are gone by, and a day of a very different 
character has succeeded them, which, in the providence of God, has 
been the occasion of convening of this council. Remembering, as I 



45 

« 

do, sir, former associations, my heart bleeds. I wish, then, it may be 
distinctly understood, that, in all the remarks which I may be allowed 
to make before this council, in the place which 1 occupy, no feelings 
but those of tenderness and respect will be indulged towards any of ihe 
members of this church or society, or towards tlieir pastor. 

Mr. Moderator, we would make the inquiry whether this council 
may not be made a mutual council, according to the first request of 
the aggrieved, notwithstanjJing all that has hitherto been done. 

Mr. iModerator, we will now proceed to give the reasons why the 
aggrieved members of this church have requested their dismission, to 
be formed into a separate church. They have done this, sir, we would 
answer in the negative, — 

1. Not because there is the least disaffection between them and the 
other members of the church. 

2. Neither is it because they have the least, distant wish, in itself 
considered, to be separate from their brethren. 

8. Neither is it because they do not respect and esteem their pas- 
tor as a man. 

But, in the affirmative, — 

1. It is because he seldom, if ever, to our understanding, preaches 
the entire sinfulness of the heart by nature; the necessity of regenera- 
tion, effected through the instrumentality of divine truth by the special 
influence of the Holy Ghost— the sovereignty of God — the doctrine of 
his electing love, of reprobation, of his general agency and universal 
decrees. 

2. Because, in our judgment, instead of the above things, and others 
which become sound doctrine, he substitutes those of an Arminiaa 
character. 

3. Because he speaks against religious excitements, or revivals, as 
they are generally termed by the Orthodox, calling them spurious 
works, &,c. 

4. Because, in our judgment, he disapproves of religious meetings, 
unless very seldom, except on the Sabbath. 

5. Because, in private conversation, he speaks very freely on sub- 
jects of a worldly nature, but very seldom on the subject of religion. 

Signed, Jer. Bumpus, ") 

David Swift, j Committee 

Benj. Bumpus, . of the 

David Bodfish, j Aggrieved 

Lemuel Savery, ! Members. 

Alvin Gibbs, 3 

Document No. 2, — Reasons why we do not like 3Ir. Nott's Preaching. 

" I say to every one before me. Choose your own path, and walk in 
it, until you arrive to heaven. I say, Choose your own path ; mark it 
out, and walk in it, until you arrive to heaven." 

'* The first lisp of an infant is to praise its Maker; and it will go on 
to praise him until it arrives in glory." 

He says, " Away with your three months and winter revivals; away 
with your spurious revivals, your flashes," &:.c. 6lc. 

" When Mr. Nott returned from Bombay, he states in public, in sub- 
7 



46 

stance, that his views on the subject of revivals of religion differed from 
those of the public generally; or, in other words, that the public opin- 
ion was against him. This was stated about two years since." [Mr. 
Nott read before council the sermon here referred to, February 4, 1838. 
See " Sermons on Public Worship," p. 174 : the Author's Account of 
himself] 

** And when we have conversed with him on the importance of laying 
the sinner's case before him, as laid down in the word of God, he says, 
* Is it not enough for me to tell the sinner the duty he owes his Sav- 
iour ? Or had I better conjure up something, and tell the sinner he 
has a heart that hates God V " 

*' We are informed by one of the brethren that Mr. Nott told him he 
did not wish him to go to Agawam, as he was afraid of their getting 
up an excitement, and prevent them from coming to meeting on the 
Sabbath." 

" There is a principle in the heart of the natural man, if cultivated, 
will lead him to heaven. I repeat it, — there is a principle in the heart 
of the natural man, if cultivated, will lead him to heaven." * 



31r. Notfs concluding Remarks. 

The question before the council is not on preferring or not pre- 
ferring, liking or not liking, the prearJiing and procedure of the 
pastor; but whether the preaching and procedure are such as to 
furnish good and sujfflcient reason for dismissing the applicants, to be 
organized into a church by themselves, and that in such a commu- 
nity and with so small a number of applicants. Of course the ques- 
tion is, whether this missionary to the heathen; this minister of the 
presbytery of New York for five years, and of the presbytery of Alba- 
ny for six years, without complaint or objection ; this minister, who, 
for twenty-seven years, has been before the churches as a missionary, 
minister, and author, has at last given, by his preaching and proce- 
dure, in the Old Colony, good and sufficient reason for these few breth- 
ren and sisters, namely, about one-fourth of the actual male members, 
and about one-twentieth part of the female members, to be dismissed, 
as aggrieved thereby. 

The council owe it to the pastor of this church — to this church it- 
self, for a century sound and unblemished — to the aggrieved members 
— to the churches over which themselves preside — and to all the 
churches, which can subsist only on just principles — to give their an- 
swer to this question, in one single word ;— in one absolute and de- 
cided YES, so firm and so strong that it shall exclude, in its natural 
course, this minister from the charge of this or any other church, as 
shall put THEIR han upon his preacHing and procedure, not only in this 
church, but in all the churches : or in one absolute and decided no, 
confirming the great mass of this church and people in the opinion all 
had when they gave their call, and which they have maintained until 
now — so firm and so strong as may give them the surest ground to urge 
the applicants, kindly, but decisively, to return, according to the wish 

* See, on the above document, " Sermons on Public Worship," and notes, large portions 
of which were laid before council, especially sermons 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, and note to p. 397. 



47 

expressed on the records of the church — " welcomed to our bosom, 
and to proceed with all affection and diligence in the great work of 
mutual edification and public usefulness, burying forever the dissatis- 
faction which has been expressed, in kind oblivion, as a subject which 
has no occasion even to be named." And, be the time longer or 
shorter, I expect this council to continue their inquiry-until they are 
ready for a simple yea or nay, on the leading question before them. 

Certificate of Dismission reported to the Church. 

Wareham, March 9, 1840. 

This is to certify that and are entitled to their 

dismission from the Congregational church, Wareham, to be united 
with a church to be organized of themselves and other aggrieved 
members, and that they will be considered as dismissed when they 
shall have been duly organized ; agreeably to the following result of 
council called to decide on their case : 

" Resolved, unanimously, frst, That the original grievance on rec- 
ord, in the former doings of this church, namely, the preaching and 
procedure of the pastor, is not a good and sufficient reason for dismiss- 
ing the aggrieved members to be organized into a church by themselves, 
inasmuch as they have failed to sustain the reasons which they have 
assigned for that request. 

^'Resolved, unanimously, second, That it is expedient, in the present 
state of things, for the sake of peace, for the church to grant the ag- 
grieved members a dismission, if they persist in their requests 

In behalf of the church. 

Samuel Nott, Jr., Pastor. 

My dear Friends, — I cannot give you the accompanying certificate 
without a parting word. 

Before you take the step which you now propose, I owe it to the 
charge I took of you more than ten years ago as your pastor, to re- 
quest you to study with deep attention my letter to the church mem- 
bers of August 3, 1838, a copy of which I suppose to be in the hands 
of Deacon Jeremiah Bumpus, and the printed -works referred to 
therein. 

2. With the certificate to Deacon Bumpus I will transmit, for the 
use of all the aggrieved members, a fair copy of my letter of August 17, 
1838, addressed to the church ; and I request of you to study it also 
with deep attention. 

3. In connection with those letters, and all my publications, and 
with my whole character for thirty years as a Christian minister and 
Christian man, I beg you to compare the remap'kable list of charges 
laid before council, and the decision of council thereon ; and then 
to inquire whether sound good sense or sound Christian principle can 
justify your present step. 

4. Finally, I beg you to inquire of your own hearts whether, after 
all, I have not now as fully as 1 had in the month of May, 1829, your 
confidence as a Christian minister and a Christian man, consistent 
from that time until now in the doctrines and principles which I then 
avowed. 



And, lastly, whether you can approve yourselves to your own con- 
sciences — to this church and people — to future times, who will review 
with impartiality your doings — and to the great Head of the church — 
the step you are now about to take, after a council has unanimously 
decided that there are no other grounds but such as is made by your 
persisting in a request vi'bich has no good and sufficient reason. 

With earnest desires that you may remain with us, in the only desir- 
able way, and not without hope that you may yet see that that way is 
right, I remain, with great affection, and desires for your welfare, at 
least until your organization is completed, 

Your pastor, Samuel Nott, Jr,. 

Communication from Pulpit, 3Iarch 15, 1840. 

The certificates have been accompanied with a brief pastoral letter, 
urging the aggrieved members to pause, and consider, and pray, yet 
move before taking the final step ; urging also the only return to my 
pastoral charge which is desirable, namely, in such affection and con- 
fidence as they must be supposed formerly to have felt when / was 
but what I now am. I shall still cherish the hope of such a return. 

But, as they are all absent this day, I am compelled to understand 
them as decided for the present, to accept their dismissions for the pur- 
poses named, namely, to be organized into a separate church ; and I 
propose now to close the case, so far as my pastoral action in the mat- 
ter is concerned, by a few brief remarks and prayer suited to the re- 
markable and solemn occasion. It should not pass without such 
notice. 

1. The simple question — as in all the past, so in all the future — is, 
are we in the path o^ truth and duty : if so, let not your minds be bur- 
dened with anxiety about consequences. Let no one compel you to 
think that evil consequences must ensue in the path of truth and duty ; or 
that you are responsible for any that may ensue, if you keep that patb 
The Hindoo, who sits in Dhernea, that is, who seeks to carry his point 
by refusing food till he dies, vainly thinks to lay the guilt of his death 
at the door of his ujiyielding neighbor. If he will destroy himself, his 
blood must be on his own head. If you pursue the path of truth and 
duty, no one can make you responsible for the consequences of the er- 
rors of others. 

2. To the rule of truth and duty in regard to our future course, 
must be added what is, indeed, included — that o^ a ri^ht temper. " Be 
kindly affectioned one to another," is a rule never to be set aside. No 
circumstances can ever justify a departure from it. Be the follies or 
the faults of others ever so glaring, the precept and example of our 
Lord calls us to kindness of temper, which, above all things is to be 
maintained towards those of whom we retain the hope that, amidst 
what seem errors to us, they are brethren and sisters in Christ. If you 
will follow this rule, you will avoid the greatest calamity that can be- 
fall those who bear the Christian name, namely, a spirit utterly unlike 
Him after whom we are called, I repeat here the rule for harmony, 
which I have often repeated in conversation, — ** Be at peace in your 
own bosom." Allow no unkind temper ; use no reproaches j an^k^efi- 



49 

an open heart and open arms for the return of those who have gone 
from you. 

3. There needs no pains, no struggle, to maintain your cause — the 
cause of this ancient institution. Do your dniy \ follow truth; main- 
tain a right temper, and then act as if this mutter had never happened, 
or did nut exist. If your method be of man, it will come to nought; 
but if of God, it cannot be overthrown. Let your pains and struggle 
be for the prosperity of religion, precisely as if there were no new pro- 
ject rising up. Take no pains, make no struggle, to maintain your 
cause, other than what you owe if this event had not occurred. 

4. The only answer you need make to past or future complaints is, 
your own profit in the gospel — your own edification and growth in 

grace, and your own effort that others may be thus profited With 

all your kindness to me, you fail yet in the greatest act of kindness you 
can show me; and that will prove the greatest of all blessings for your- 
selves You have given your testimony in behalf of the gospel I 

preach ; and I thank you for that testimony ; nor do I think 1 utterly 
lack the better testimony of a profited people. What I now claim is 
your general acceptance of my message —your obedience to the truth. 
What if you had yielded to my request, which lies printed in your 
houses, made near six years ago, and / could now show the living epis- 
tles in proof of a true and faithful minister ? You raised your hands 
by hundreds the other day, in testimony of my private urgency with 
you for your spiritual good — my private commendation of the gospel 
along all the paths of life; and I thank you for that testimony; but, 
O, what if you had given the better testimony of yielding to that coin- 
mendation ? of fulfilling the promise which I have often seen upon you 
only as the morning cloud and early dew ? What if you would now 
give this testimony ? You need not take any pains to prove your- 
selves right, and others wrong — to prove me right : let all your pains 
be in Christ, and through Christ — to be right and do right. Your best 
aid to me, to this church, to this town — to union, to harmony — is to 
secure thus your own profit in the gospel ! 

5. Let not your interest in this maiier pass awoy toitlwut profit. 
Great principles have been reviewed by you in the Deuteronomy, in the 
renewed lessons we have gone through. You have acknowledged their 
importance : let not the interest of the time pass away, and leave any 
o^ you where you were before. Follow the example of the Israelites 
after their review, and enter into the good land and large. 

If you are Christians, be hereafter better, more decided, more vigor- 
ous, more growing, more constant Christians — not of yourselves, but 
taught to say, " I can do ail things through Christ strengthening me.'' 
A new responsibility rests on you. 

If you have not begun the Christian life, begin it now — now, when 
the great principles of the gospel are fresh in your mind — now, when 
my ministry often years continues on your minds and thoughts — now, 
when, I trust, new desires and intentions have been awakened in 
your minds — now, when the l^pirit breathes on you afresh — now, when 
many prayers are upon you So far as my own ministry is con- 
cerned in your welfare, I have never had a better opportunity — never 
can have a better opportunity ^ than this present, nor you a better oppor- 
tunity for profit. Let it not pass unimproved. 



60 

6. Expect no blessing from my ministry on the present interest you 
feel, unless you have, in your own several cases a personal intention 
and compliance — a personal faith and prayer. Only so many as cow- 
j)ly with the gospel can be blessed* 

Wareham, March 24, 1840. 

To the Moderator of Omncil, assembled March 24, 1840, on the call of 
the aggrieved members of the Congregational Church, Wareham. 

Sir, — The brethren and sisters who, I understand, have called you to 
organize them into a church by themselves, though bearing my official 
certificate of dismission, do of course remain under my pastoral charge 
until their organization is completed ; and until then, I owe them all 
the duties of a Christian "pastor which can be rendered in their actual 

case I hasten to perform, through you, what to all human 

appearance may be the last. Yet not without hope in God, strength- 
ened by recollections of his aid in as difficult emergencies, that even 
now, in this last extremity, my brethren and sisters may be kept from a 
step which I feel the deepest persuasion is misjudged, and ivitl at some 
future time be regretted by themselves. At any rate, I will try to per- 
form this last pastoral duty, and to accompany it with my earnest 
prayers in their behalf. 

In my pastoral letter, on the same sheet with their several certifi- 
cates, 1 have stated to them that I have no wish that they remain under 
my pastoral charge, unless it may be in such affection and confidence 
as they reposed in me when I was but what / now am ; and on the 
other hand that nothing could please me more than their return to that 
former state. 

This premised, I proceed to urge on you and the council over 
which you preside, that before you proceed to organize the aggrieved 
members, you will try to bring them back to their true place; to their 
covenanted duties and privileges, into the unity of the church which 
they are dividing; and this on either of the grounds on which alone 
their organization can be considered as proposed. 

1. I will not think that the aggrieved members intend to proceed on 
the ground I must first name; I mean the actual ground allowed by 
the late council, and of course by the church acting under their direc- 
tion, viz., '* for the sake of peace" " if they persist in their request," 
without "good and sufficient reason;" i. e. their oivn state of mind 

interfering unreasonably with the peace of the church Let the 

council pause, and advise and urge, before they constitute a new 
church on such a ground as this ; " for the sake of peace," on persist- 
ance in a request for which they have ** no good and sufficient rea- 
sons." If this be the ground, viz., because these brethren and sisters 
will not be at peace with us, who have maintained unvarying kindness 
of spirit and manners towards them, well may you pause before you 
sanction the final step; well may you forewarn, well may I entreat your 
aid in my own pastoral forewarning. What! A new church on the 
very principle and in the very spirit on which no church can stand; 

* See document No. 1, art. 5. 



51 

in the very temper which it ought to be their daily care to suppress 
and overcome ! A new church, organized on the very principle of 
disorganization, united on the very principle of disunion! J3rethren 
and sisters uniting on a new covenant, in the very breach of their old 
one, and forming a new church of the meek Redeemer in the very 
spirit which was not in Him ! uniting in the temper of needless and 
endless separations and divisions! There is no avoiding these hum- 
bling and painful exclamations, on the only ground of organization 
sanctioned by the council, February 2(5, \SiO. An organization on 
such grounds is the very seed of disorganization ; knows no stopping 
place until every man and every woman find " peace " in a church of 
their own; and until there is no longer any church organization in the 
world ! Well may this council pause and forewarn, before binding 
these brethren and sisters together with a mere rope of sand ; rather, 
before building them with the mere cement of explosion, before they 
attempt to establish solid walls by inlays of gunpowder. The spirit 
in which these brethren are permitted by the late council to be formed, 
would need but a spark to explode their church into fragments ! / 
will not think that my brethren and sisters intend to take the actual 
liberty furnished by the council, viz., ^^ for the sake of peace.'' 

2. There is but one other supposable ground, viz., that the aggrieved 
members consider their original grievance as a good and sufficient rea- 
son for their organization, contrary to the decision of the council. Be 
it so. They take the liberty granted by the second resolution of the 
council, on the ground that the council decided wrong in the frst; 
and I must suppose they appear before you to-day, re-asserting their 
original grievance as a good and sufficient reason for being organized 
contrary to the first resolution; while they claim it of us and of you 
on the second resolution of the council. 

At this point, 1 quote in substance from my pastoral letter accom- 
panying my certificates: 

" I beg you to compare my whole character and doctrine with the 
remarkable list of charges laid before the council. Can you do this 
without suspecting that your whole course in this matter may have 
been misjudged? " 

I now go farther, and, for the sake of these brethren and sisters, I 
ask this council to compare those charges with my whole character and 
doctrine, with what you have known of me in free and familiar inter- 
course, with all you have ever heard of me from the beginning of my 
public life until now, and with all my publications for a course of years. 
Nay, I dare even to ask this council to compare those remarkable 
charges, loith an unblemished character as a Christian man and a 
Christian minister, with that whole example of faith and fidelity amidst 
all the trials of life which I have been graciously enabled to maintain, 
and with the exhibition of sound 'principles and motives in my various 
publications; and then to say if the charges laid before the former 
council are not, in the last degree, groundless and absurd ; as plainly 
as would have been the charge of intemperance against my whole life 
of the utmost temperance ; as groundless and absurd as the same 
charges would have been against any member of this present council, 
or against the fairest ministers in the land ? 

And what now 1 If not " for the sake of peace," then surely on the 



52 

original grievance ; on the reasons laid before council and by them set 
aside, this new church is to be formed. What ! A new church on 
the very basis of groundlessness and absurdity! A church, on grounds 
which the whole doctrine and character of thirty years prove to be null 
and void ; and which, if there be any such thing as consistency of 
character, will be proved null and void by my whole future life ! A 
church on grounds which hundreds of printed pages show to be utterly 
vain, and which hundreds more which I hope are forthcoming, will 
prove vain ! A new church struggling into being by special efforts 
for the last two years, on the declared absence of truths and 'principles, 
which shine like the daylight on hundreds of pages which have been 
preached within that time, and which I hope within six months to lay 
before the public !* In a word, a new church on the re-assertion of 
imaginary grievances ; the misconceptions of minds unaccountably 
perverted, whether by prejudice, or passion, or monomania; maintained 
still against the clearest evidence, and notwithstanding the deliberate 
and solemn decision of the very churches with which they propose to 
be in fellowship ! 

I speak boldly in this matter, not forgetting the lessons of self-abase- 
ment long taught me, but as one that knotvs where he stands; where 
he may presume he stands in your minds, and in the minds of the Chris- 
tian public ; and I do so in the hope that the very grossness of the error 
into which the aggrieved members have been unwarily led, may be- 
come the means of recovering them from it ; that they will at length 
suspect, *' that their whole course must have been misjudged." If I 
was astonished at that remarkable list of charges, outdoinor all I bad 
imagined, I had this comfort at least, that their utter extravagance and 
absurdity might be the means of their discovering that their starting 
point must have been delusion; and that they must needs return to the 
point from which they have departed, instead of still advancing, farther 
and farther in their wandering way. Will you entreat them to pause 
and consider before they proceed to build a Christian church on an 
utter mistake, on a manifest absurdity. 

I^t the supposition be made, The list of reasons laid before the 
council are manifestly not true ; but these aggrieved members think 
they are true. What if they do ? Will their utter mistake furnish a 
solid foundation for a Christian church 1 Let it be supposed that the 
minister of Wareham stands as fair for soundness in the faith, for 
earnestness and fidelity in the pastoral office, and for Christian 
character and conversation, as any of his brethren; but that these 
members think their invn list of charges true, to the contrary. What 
if they do? Can their misjudgment about the doctrine, and conversa* 
tion, and character of a ten years' ministry prove a solid foundation for 
a Christian church? Let it be supposed that the council who reviewed 
at large my preaching and procedure, and who were previously ac- 
quainted with my character and writings, and that the whole Christian 
public are well assured that those charges are groundless and absurdj 
but that these members have dwelt so long upon single expressions 
imperfectly heard and remembered ; and have so long given to others 
their own interpretation, that they have at length convinced themselves 

* See SermoBs on Publio Worshipj 



53 

that their whole list is true ! What if they have 1 Will their convic- 
tion that they are true furnish a solid foundation, if indeed, they are 
not true 1 Let it be supposed that my printed works, my embodied 
character prove those charges untrue; and that new works I hope yet 
to appear, will prove them untrue ; but these aggrieved members, with- 
out reading them perhaps, still believe and will hereafter believe their 
list of charges true. What if they do? Can their dreams, amidst 
such realities, prove a solid foundation for a Christian church ? Will 
not this council urge these members to pause and reflect before they 
begin to build thereon, lest they begin a work which, from the very 
nature of the case, cannot prosper in their hands; and which, if my 
works do at all live after me on this spot, posterity will look upon with 
utter astonishment. I cannot help thinking that if the grand-children 
of these aggrieved members shall read what I have published, and 
especially the actual record of my preaching and procedure for the last 
two years which I now propose,* that they will wonder where were 
the eyes and the ears of their ancestors, when they believed their own 
charges against the minister of Wareham, in 1840, who, more than 
any of his predecessors, had laid his whole doctrine and character be- 
fore the public. 

Nay, will not these brethren and sisters forestall the wonder of pos- 
terity by wondering at themselves, when I tell them that their own list 
of charges before the council is utterly inconsistent with their own 
avowed opinions of me, with the confidence which, at this very monent, 
they repose in me I ... . Will you beg these members to pause one so- 
ber moment and reflect, and compare their list of charges with their 
opinions of me. Dear sir, we have had a remarkable thing in Ware- 
ham. In cases of difficulty, other ministers have found it trying to 
bear the reproaches of those that have set themselves against them, cir- 
culating and increasing in the mouth of common fame. May / say 
that my only trial has been that of hearing, oftener than I have desired, 
favorable reports of my Christian character from these aggrieved mem- 
bers themselves. I know not how it is. I trust that grace sought for 
more than thirty years has given me, amidst many imperfections and 
great struggles with still indwelling sin, some consistency of character ; 
but more than I dare claim is constantly awarded me by these very 
brethren and sisters themselves. Will you bid them pause and reflect, 
before they go farther, on the question of the Saviour, — " Do men 
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" If the minister denied or 
forgot the depravity of men, and the need of the Spirit, and left reli- 
gion out of his habitual conversation ; if he dishonestly and dishonor- 
ably preached and conversed, contrary to his obligations and profes- 
sions as the minister of Wareham, assumed in his orthodox confession 
at his installation, — how could he attain that consistent Christian life 
which these members themselves have constantly, I will say, kindly, 
awarded him ? Will you believe it, sir, that, though the former coun- 
cil did say, "for the sake of peace," I have no reason to complain, un- 
less it be of too much praise, of my Christian character ; that, instead 
of being tried by the hard things said of me, I have heard only the ex- 
pressions of their utmost confidence in my Christian excellence, more 

* See " Sermons on Public Worship." 

8 



64 

than I dare claim that grace long and earnestly sought has wrought in 
me? .... I am almost tempted to retort their charge upon themselves, 
and say, they are not orthodox; they arc not sound in the faith, if they 
think that the little I have gained, and which they acknowledge in me, 
has been gained without a firm belief and diligent use of the great 
doctrines to which I pledged myself anew when I received the charge 
of this church. 

I have now requested your aid in recovering my brethren from their 
course, on whichever of the two grounds you find them proceeding, 
whether /or the mere sake of peace, as I will not suppose, or on reasons 
manifestly groundless and absurd. I pray earnestly that they may lis- 
ten to me and to you, and return •' welcome to our bosom ;" but if they 
persist, I beg you then to fix their attention on the necessary question, 
in what way we are hereafter to icalk together ; whether as churches in 
felloivship, or whether the old church of Wareham will be considered 
out of fellowship with the new church which goes out from her ? This 
point, of course, it is for them to decide; for, if our decision had been 
taken, or the decision of the churches, ** they would no doubt have 
continued with us," having neither cause nor desire to break away 
from their venerable mother ; and, instead of the fellowship of two 
churches, we should have, as formerly, sweet fellowship in one church, 
with one another, and with those sainted pastors and members, whom 
by faith we see among the " spirits of just men made perfect." The 
only consistent answer to this all-important and necessary question 
which these aggrieved members can make must be, the new church 
either cannot or will not have fellowship with the old church. This is the 
only answer consistent with the withdrawal of these members from the 
parish a year ago; with the absence of many of them since from our 
worship and ordinances; and- with the absence of nearly all, that is, 
with their refusal of all fellowship since the late council. I trust they 
will not he consistent — will not carry out into the new church the with- 
drawal of fellowship, which they began in the bosom of the old. But 
if they do, then I beg you to ask them another necessary and all- 
important question, namely, how they are to walk with your very selves, 
if you remain in felloivship with us 1 Will they, can they, have fel- 
lowship with you, if you have fellowship with us, from whom they deter- 
minately withdraw? Will you beg them to settle, before they proceed 
tp the final step, what is to be the relation of this new church, first to 
the old church of Wareham, next to the churches which compose this 
present council; and, lastly, to the yet unbroken and unmarred felloiv- 
ship of the Old Colony association. Do they design to be out of fel- 
lowship with us, and, if with us, with you, and with the Old Colony 
association? If they do, doubtless you will pause before you set them 
up by an authority which they discard, and in a fellowship from which 
they withdraw themselves. 

I trust they will make the inconsistent answer, *' No ; ■ wq do not 
intend to be out of fellowship with the old church of Wareham : we 
hope to have fellowship with our own beloved mother still, and with all 
with whom in her bosom we have had fellowship." If they make you this 
inconsistent answer — as I trust they will — then ask them, " Wherefore, 
then, break fellowship at all 7 Why break it merely to make it? Why 
separate into two drops, merely to flow together again ? Why not 



55 

leave these two drops united still in the one same vessel ? Why not 
remain in the very fellowship to-day, to which, but in another form, 
you will return to-morrow? If they will, let them be assured that the 
church of VVareham will bid them joyful welcome ; and I trust the 
people, seeing this glory upon us, will " fly as a cloud and as doves to 
our windows." 

In aid of any effort the council may see cause to make, I refer them 
to my pastoral letter accompanying the several certificates, and to my 
letters of August 3 and August 17, J83S, laid before the former coun- 
cil, and now in the hands of Deacon Jeremiah Bumpus, one of the ag- 
grieved. 

I am aware how difficult the work is, to which I urgently invite this, 
council, namely, the recovtry of my brethren and sisters from the final 
step to which they hasten. And had my life been one of less varied 
experience; had it been without experience of deliverances as remark- 
able ; nay, had 1 not found such efforts as I now make and urge on you 
effectual, even at the last extremity, I might not have attempted this 
last pastoral appeal ; might not have thought it possible that it might 
issue in so remarkable a blessing as the cordial reunion of my whole 
CHURCH UNDER MY OWN MINISTRY. But I havc been disciplined by 
Heaven to such an effort and in such a hope as this, — to hope even 
against hope ; and 1 dare not, I cannot, and will not, despair. Many 
recollections of my past life require of me this effort and this hope. 
Two only shall be named : The mission at Bombay was twice saved 
from destruction by a last appeal, at the final extremity ; and that, too, 
when those last appeals required the retracing of wrong steps, by those 
from whom it was least to be expected. 3Ien in high authority honor- 
ably retraced their steps, at the simple arguments, I trust, the honest 
and prayerful boldness, of men in low estate, — once the Governor and 
council of Bombay, to the astonishment and joy of thousands in India, 
England, and America; once the Court of Directors of the East India 
Company in London. The former appeal — I verily believe divinely 
prompted and aided — was made directly by the missionaries to Sir 
Evan Nepean, in arrest of orders of government, which, in twenty-four 
hours, would have placed the missionaries on board ship for England, 
and broken up the mission ; and it was answered marvellously by 
counter orders at the very point of embarkation, when every box and 
trunk was prepared for the voyage, and actually in progress for deliv- 
ery on board ship ! The latter appeal was made in London, by the 
Hon. Charles Grant, in arrest of orders proposed to be sent out to In- 
dia, by the Court of Directors, for breaking up the mission ; and was 
based simply upon the honest and bold statements and appeals, first 
laid before the governor and council of Bombay, and by them sent to 
England. In the last extremity, one of the best of men took the pains 
to make an appeal on the original documents, against the opinions and 
decisions of the Court of Directors of the East India Company ; and 
the marvellous answer to his believing effort in the last extremity, was 
an order for establishing the very mission ivhich they had resolved to 
destroy! Can you wonder that, J/^^^5 disciplined to hope even against 
hope, I make this effort, and in this last extremity, in hope. Sir, will 
you do me such a favor as Mr. Grant did, unasked, to the missionaries 
at Bombay? Will you take the documents, if need be, whiph place 



66 

this subject in its true light, and spread them anew before the aggriev- 
ed members, and join your own earnest effort to mine, in hope, though 
against hope, that he who marvellously turned, at the last extremity, 
the hearts of those in power over millions of men, will turn the hearts 
of these brethren and sisters to their own Zion, to their joy and ours, 
and to the benefit of this whole people, and of all who behold us. 

True, it is hard to go hack : it is hard to say, I have done wrongs 
in a course where men have resolutely begun, and in which they have 
encouraged one another ; but it is harder still to continue to do wrong. 
Let these brethren and sisters know that, if they have taken the wrong 
path, there can be no true prosperity and. peace but in leaving it ; and 
the sooner the better for their welfare, their honor, and their useful- 
ness. They know that I have lived with them only in friendship. Let 
them receive the honest earnestness, and even severity, of this commu- 
nication, as the faithful wounds of a friend. Let them welcome its 
reproofs as " an excellent oil, which shall not break their head." Let 
them be assured that a deep regard for their own well-being, for that of 
the families from which so many of them are in my view causelessly 
breaking away ; and for that of this church, which they are inconsist- 
ently forsaking; and of this community, which requires from them a 

truer and better light, prompts and urges this last appeal They 

have gone a length which, I presume, they thought not of when they 
took their first measures, until they are proceeding to build a Christian 
church, either in a wrong spirit, or on the merest dreams ; and I be- 
seech them, through you, and if you will, 6y you, io pause — to turn — to 
return to the kind bosom of their old mother — to set themselves on 
high again, on our own chosen hill, and thence to shed forth light and 
love and peace upon this community, and to beware of setting up an 
organization which may cherish and foster in them the very passions 
which it is our whole duty and interest, as it is our Christian profes- 
sion, to suppress and overcome. 

And if you fail with th^ whole, I beseech you then to turn to each 
several one, and beseech them to remember that, as yet, they are no 
organized body ; that, in so far as they are under social obligations, 
they are bound, each for himself, not to the church ivhich is to be, but 
to the church which already is ; and that, if it be wrong to forsake it, 
no numbers in company can make it right — no, nor our certificate. 
Still their departure would be a breach of their original and solemn 
covenant. 

Should my brethren and sisters disregard this earnest appeal, and 
the earnestness which I trust you will add thereto; and should you see 
your way clear to constitute them into a separate church, without good 
and sufficient reasons in their original grievance, and yet for the sake 
of peace^ I have only to commit their future course to Him in 
whose name I have endeavored to serve them, and never more kindly 
and anxiously than in this closing act of my pastoral office over them. 
I beg you to leave this final communication in the hands of the new 
church, should one be formed, that they may have with them my last 
pastoral effort in their behalf On my part, in like case, I shall com- 
municate it to the old church, and place it on their files along with my 
letters of August 3 and August 17, 1838, for its future information, 
and for that of posterity. 



57 * 

With earnest prayer that the Holy Ghost may influence your hearts 
and theirs who have asked your aid, 

I am with the highest regard, your brother in the gospel, 

Samuel Nott, Jr., 
Pastor of the Congregational Church, Wareham. 

March 25. The Rev. Dr. Robbins, the moderator of the council 
assembled yesterday, informed the pastor of the Congregational church 
that the brethren and sisters to whom we had issued certificates, in 
conformity with the result of the council convened February 24, had 
been constituted into a church by themselves, on the same articles of 
faith and covenant as the original church, and under the name of the 
Trinitarian Church. 

He also gave information that the pastor's letter sent to the consti- 
tuting council was not laid before them. The introductory paragraph 
being read, it was voted not to read it on account of its length 1 ! 

Wareham, May 1, 1840. 

Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. : Dear Sir — The following were the closing 
acts of the meeting of the First Congregational Society in Wareham, 
April \ 1, 1840, which, acording to the vote of said society, I hav.e the 
the honor of presenting to you : 

Resolved, unanimously, That the proceedings of our pastor, Rev. 
Samuel Nott, Jr., in managing and bringing to a speedy termination 
the difficulties he has had with a certain portion of his church, 
particularly the upright, candid, and public manner in which he has 
conducted the whole controversy, meets our decided approbation, and 
has strengthened our confidence in him as a man, a public teacher, 
and a consistent Christian. 

Voted, That a copy of the above resolution be presented to the Rev. 
Mr. Nott by the clerk, and a copy of the report and decision of the 
council be requested for the purpose of having the same recorded on 
the parish books. 

A true copy. H. G. O. Ellis, Clerk. 



FOURTH PERIOD— MAY, 1840, TO AUGUST, 1843. 

[In 1842, we found the parish debt increasing, and, as a par- 
ish, we then deliberately dismissed the minister. — See Memorial of 
September 23, 1845.] 

Third Article of Warrant for Parish Meeting, March 7, 1842. 

To pass such votes in relation to the contract between the parish and 
their pastor as they shall deem the interest of the society may require, 
and adopt such method for raising money for parochial purposes as 
shall best promote the harmony and interest of all concerned. [Com- 
pare p. 21.] 



58 

March 1, 1842. 

Voted, That the First Parish in Wareham give tlie Rev. Samuel 
Nott, Jr., notice that his connection with said parish be dissolved at 
the end of six months from this date, and, after that time, he look to 
the subscribers who have or may subscribe to his support for future 
compensation for parochial services. 

Copy of Subscription Paper * 

We, the subscribers, do hereby promise to pay the sums we set 
against our respective names to the several collectors in the districts in 
which we reside, for the purpose of paying the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., 
for his services as pastor of the First Parish in Wareham, and for pay- 
ing Joseph B. Leonard for ringing the bell, making fires, and for coal, 
&c., — the half to be paid in June, and the balance in December. 

Wareham, March 7, 1842. 

March 6, 1843. Being still in actual charge, under the vote of 
March 7, 1842, and the subscription list of the same date, the pastor 
gave two receipts referred to in the Legal Opinion, the first of salary in 
full up to September 7, six months from the above notice, — the other 
from subscribers to his salary/roTw September 7, 1842. 

Wareham, July 29, J842. 

■ Messrs. E. Bumpas, S. Gihhs, and S. T. Soule : Gentlemen, — In 
answer to the inquiry made by one of you this day, with reference to 
my understanding and intentions as to the vote of the parish of 7th 
March last, communicated to me by you, as their committee, I submit 
as follows, namely: 

The vote of the parish, that the connection of the pastor " be dis- 
solved at the end of six months ; and, after that time, that he look to 
the subscribers who have or may subscribe to his support, for future 
compensation for parochial services," does, of course, according to the 
original contract, release the parish, as such, from all obligations after 
the expiration of six months ; while it proposes a continuation of" pa- 
rochial services," to be rendered in dependence upon such compensa- 
tion as those who have subscribed or may subscribe may give. 

Whenever I shall learn officially what I am to expect from the sub- 
scribers, to whom the parish vote directs me to look, I shall make such 
communication as the case may require. It is sufficient, for the pres- 
ent, to say, that, so long as I give no notice to the contrary, I consider 
myself bound to your service, on the conditions of your vote, just as 
strictly as by the original contract ; in lieu of which, for the length of 
time that silence gives consent, it is, in truth, accepted; and that the 
avails of your subscription, whether less or more, must be received as 
my whole claini.;i}^,tjl I shall have given you six months' notice to the 
contrary. ..{.,,.,.: 
-^-^^-^ — '-^ —. ■ -—^ ■ ■ — T'-n^ 

* See account of this subscription in Letter to Parish, May 1, 1843. 



59 

I trust that, as on a former occasion, your parish will be able to resnme 
its original contract; and that, in our deeply interesting and solemn rela- 
tion, we shall be mutually blessed and a blessing ; so that, when our 
brief union here is ended, we may be united in an affection and bliss 
that will know no end. 

With the greatest affection to yourselves and your constituents, 

Your pastor, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 



Wareham, May 1, 1843. 

To the First Parish in Wareham^ assembled in Parish Meeting : 
My dear Friends, — I make my communication in person, in order 
to be the more surely and completely understood ; and I would read 
over a second time any parts, or the whole, rather than miss that sure 
and complete understanding which I desire. Having laid before you 
my views, I shall put this document in your hands, and immediately 
retire, and leave you with my best wishes and prayers to your delibera- 
tions and decisions. 

On the 20th April, I delivered the following letter to the committee 
of the parish : 

'^ Messrs. E. Bumpas, S. Gibbs, and S. T. Soule : Gentlemen, — In 
my letter to you under date July 29, 1842, in reply to your communi- 
cation of the vote of parish of March 7 preceding, I said : [See p. 58.] 

'• I have waited from the date of my letter for the information referred 
to, and at length came to suppose that it would be officially given on 
the full view of the case, which must, of course come before your an- 
nual parish meeting. Receiving, however, no communication there- 
from, my only resort was to the parish clerk. To my great surprise, 
this application resulted in the information that no order was taken 
or vote passed on the subject at all; and that our relation stands as it 
was left by the vote of the parish, March 7, and my letter, July 29, 
1842; so that what was a temporary con:^cnt until the parish could 
give difinitc information, stands as the beginning of an indefinite and 
unlimited agreement. 

" In this state of things, inadvertently on the part of the parish as it 
may have occurred, I have no alternative, whether in view of my own 
necessities, or the welfare of the parish, but to give the notice to the 
contrary, named in the above extract, and to request that a parish 
meeting may be called without delay, for the following purposes, 
namely : 

" To receive a communication from the pastor, in reference to the 
relation of pastor and parish, in consequence of the vote March 7, 
1842. 

"To see whether the parish will resume their original obligation, 
from September 7, 1842, the date at which that obligation closed, 

"If not, then to see what obligations to the pastor the parish will as- 
sume from September 7, 1842; and, in either case, to take such 
measures for raising the salary as the case may require. 

" Or, failing these, then to take such measures as may belong to the 
parish, in order that the pastor may avail himself of the subscription 



60 

* for his services as pastor of the First Parish in Wareham/ made in 
consequence of their vote March 7, 1842. 

** Praying for divine direction to nTyself and the parish, I re- 
main, &c." 

I now proceed to make the communication to the parish, to receive 
which they have been called, in answer to my request, and which I 
•hope may be found preparatory to the other business to come before 
you. The necessity of my own affairs, the demands which some of 
you have against me, and , as I apprehend, the best interests of the parish, 
require immediate and decided action in the case. Conscious that I 
am doing my duty, and seeking your good, I shall speak with the ut- 
most freedom. 

I have first to make my grateful acknowledgments to the parish for 
the prompt payment of a liberal salary, for a long course of years, and 
to the subscribers, also, of 1842, for their liberal subscription. I have 
further to express my sense of the skill and kindness of the gentleman 
who for the most part has had charge of the finances. If at any time 
there has been delay on your part, he has, almost without exception, 
made punctual settlements with me, and, at my necessity, has often 
made me advances before payment was due With these ac- 
knowledgments, and with every sentiment of affection and respect, I 
proceed to such statements as my own necessities and the best interests 
of the parish require. [A reference to private affairs omitted.] 

Thus much upon my necessities. I proceed to say, that definite en- 
gagements suited to your actual ability are most important to the wel- 
fare of the parish. On your account, as well as my own, I consented 
to your indefinite proposition of March 7, 1842, no longer than to give 
you a fair opportunity to test the good-will of the people in order to give 
official and definite information — no longer than to enable you, as in 
1837, to resume your original contract, make some other definite propo- 
sition, or to give the absolute six months' notice, which would be your 
only remaining choice. My letter to the committee, July 29, 1842, 
already referred to, awaited official information, and promised thereon 
" such communication as the case might require." An unlimited con- 
sent to an indefinite proposition, I consider, would have been, and 
would now be, to your injury no less than my own. Subscriptions 
raised from year to year, without any definite obligation, to be received 
in full whatever may be their amount, must wane and decay far beyond 
the natural tendency of all subscriptions, which I illustrated from your 
own experience of five years, and from that of my former congregation, 
in my letter to you of November, 1837. A copy of that letter I have 
brought with me to-day, if you need any argument on a point which I 
am persuaded you will think most plain. I must suppose the parish 
equally unwilling with myself to spend three or four years in an exper- 
iment of declension and decay, so easily foreseen. It is not to be ex- 
pected of a community who have been faithful and generous so long. 
At any rate, I utterly decline an indefinite contract, as any pas- 
tor must do who would not inflict injury any more than receive it; who 
either respects himself or his people, or is worthy to be respected by 
them. An indefinite contract is a contradiction in terms. A contract 
for definite service on an indefinite subscription has in it the contra- 



61 

diction of a double, which is yet but one. It is at least as absurd as a 
definite salary for indefinite service — as eight hundred dollars a year 
for as much or as little service as a pastor might choose to render, 
whether the whole or any portion of the year. Should Providence 
continue my residence among you, for any period after our contract has 
expired, most heartily will 1 render you any service in my power which 
you may desire, with indefinite compensation, or with no compensa- 
tion at all ; but, as I said five years ago, in my answer to your proposi- 
tion then, " I decline decidedly, and without hesitation, the proposi- 
tion of retaining the pastoral office on the tenure proposed." Of 

course, unless you see cause to check the operation of my letter to 
your committee on the 20th April, my obligations to serve you must 
end on the 20th October. Should you allow this issue, because you 
are unwilling to make definite engagements, you will probably wait 
long before you supply my place. Such is not, such ought not, to be 
the custom of the churches. When at length my place is supplied, no 
doubt you will hold another pastor to definite service, and yourselves 
under a definite responsibility. 

But is there any reason why this parish should decline a definite 
contract ? Is there any difficulty in their holding the only true and 
dignified position of a public body — of any parish which means to live 
and breathe, and not die a lingering death — that of a specific and ex- 
act responsibility? Is there any difficulty, after having done it for 
thirteen years, to continue to hold that position with the present pas- 
tor ? You have tried the good will of the people by your last subscrip- 
tion, and what is the result and the conclusion ? .... I have materials 
furnished me by the committee on your vote of 1837, Messrs. Sil- 
vanus Bourne and Abisha Barrows, which will enable me to aid the 
answer to this inquiry. Those gentlemen, in answer to my request, 
gave me the result of your subscription for five years previous ; and that 
result was copied into ray letter to the parish of November, 1887, 
already referred to. By the document thus furnished me, it appears 
that, in 1833, you collected by subscription $660 73, giving you a sur- 
plus of §120 to pay old debts. In 1834, after a deduction of ten per 
cent., §392 29, arid leaving a deficiency of $30; in 1835, $572 72, 
even, and of course paying the above small arrears ; in 1836, $413 30, 
leaving you in debt $150; and in 1837, $543 01, leaving the parish in 
debt $262 92. Adding these collections of five years together, you 
have a total for five years of $2,585 05, making an average of $517 01 
a year. With this amount, and your means from other sources, you 
paid your salary for five years, saving arrears of $142 92, being the 
remainder after subtracting $120 arrears paid out of your first year's 
subscription, or an average arrears of $28 18 a year. If you add this 
to the average amount raised, you will have exactly the amount you 
needed to raise in order to pay the salary, namely, $549 19, which 
may be taken as a tolerable guide to the necessary amourit of parish 
collections annually, supposing your other means to be as they were. 
In your last subscription you have raised, as it stands in the book, 
$702 32; of which, from the best information I have been able to ob- 
tain, about $630 have been actually paid, while of the balance only a 
very small amount can be considered as doubtful. Supposing, howev- 
er, the list available only to $650 ; you have then more than your an- 
9 



62 

nual need, as estimated on a course of five years, by above $100 ; that 
is, your annual need is $545 19, and your last subscription is available 
for $650. 

And this subscriptiorii — $100 more than your average need for those 
five years — was raised by no extra effort — no excessive subscription of 
a part of the community, that they might supply the lack of many de- 
clining; but by one hundred and thirty different individuals, on a scale 
similar to that adopted in the former course of five years. Of these 
one hundred and thirty, I find sixty-five of and under $3; ten from 
$5 to $3; twenty from $10 to $5; ten from $15 to $10; and four 
over $15. 

It is not for the pastor to decide whether the parish are so far sus- 
tained by the good will of the people to their pastor, as to justify them in 
taking the responsibilities which they have honorably fulfilled for a period 
of thirteen years; but if the people are dissatisfied and reluctant, they 
have taken a most singular way of showing it, namely, that of raising 
more than $100 above their average wants. Indeed, the only conclu- 
sion is, that at large, the people do retain the same confidence and 
good will as was expressed at the parish meeting April 11, 1840, in a 
vote, of which they ordered their clerk to furnish me a copy, as fol- 
lows : 

" Resolved, unanimously ^ That the proceedings of our pastor. Rev. 
Samuel Nott, Jr., in managing and bringing to a speedy termination 
the difficulties he has had with a certain portion of his church, partic- 
ularly the upright, candid, and public manner in which he has con- 
ducted the whole controversy, meets our decided approbation, and has 
strengthened our confidence in him as a man, a public teacher, and a 
consistent Christian." 

I think the whole community will bear me witness that, by whatever 
course, amidst my imperfections, I had won in ten years this testimony, 
which I wish were better deserved, I have at least been steadfast in 
that course, and am as worthy of their confidence, as a *' man, a public 
teacher, and a consistent Christian," as I was three years ago ; and 
what other conclusion can be made from the subscription list but that 
that confidence has been retained ? 

Can it be possible that a parish which, after more than ten years' ac- 
quaintance with their pastor, and after having tried him through vari- 
ous difficulties and temptations, passed such a testimony unanimously; 
and which, after three years more, on a return to subscription, raised 
$100 more than their average need, have any cause to hesitate on 
taking a definite responsibility, and even their original responsibility, 
honorably maintained for thirteen years? I dare to say, there zs no 
need of hesitation, and there will be no hesitation. This parish will 
strengthen their bands by a resolute decision to pursue their ancient 
course, before they lose the habits and the vigor which definite respon- 
sibility for a hundred years, from their fathers downwards, has given 
them. If they will sustain a strong parish, they must continue their 
course of a definite responsibility. If they will make and bequeath a 
weak and broken one, they have only to pursue the down-hill of indefi- 
nite subscription. 

I will not affect to be ignorant that, notwithstanding the public 
showing of satisfaction to which I have referred, you are not absolutely 



63 

unanimous in your desire to retain my services. Except in two or 
three cases, however, I know it by no direct communication whatever, 
and those of persons whose names I no not find on your subscription 
list; nor by hearsay, even, of any proportion of the whole number of 
either parishioners or subscribers. Of course the question arises, Shall ' 
the minister resign, or the people discharge him, in order to get a miri' 
ister in whom nil can agree ? Let your own history answer the ques- 
tion. A minister resigned, or was discharged, or both, in 1828; and, 
after contentions and divisions, which forced you into union, you at 
length called a minister, in 1829, in whom all did agree. And for how 
long 1 Why, that perfect agreement may have lasted eighteen months, 
or two years; and, in five years, it was made plain before the commu- 
nity that you had a minister in ivhom all did not agree. Suppose, at 
that time, nine years ago, your minister had resigned, or been dis- 
charged; what assurance have you — I will not say that you would have 
got a better minister, but one in whom all would agree — in whom all 
would have continued united? — that within three years again, you would 
not have found so much disagreement as to require, on the same prin- 
ciple, his removal, in order yet again to find one iji whom all could 
agree ? and that, in three years more, you would not have dismissed 
another, and called another; and might not have been now, after still 
another three years, on the eve of a fourth breaking up since 1829 1 
If I had resigned, or been discharged, in 1 834, who shall assure you 
that, for the same reason, you should not have been broken up in 1837, 
and again in 1840, and be to-day met together, in 1843, on the ques- 
tion of dismissing pastor No. 4 since 1843, in the vain pursuit of one 
in whom all could agree? Instead of this you retained your pastor; 
and, notwithstanding a secession which we all lament, you were united* 
as a large parish in unanimous confidence in your pastor in 1840, and 
held the great mass of the people in his favor, as appears by the sub- 
scription list, still in the summer of 1842 ! Shall you, then, begin to- 
day the futile attempt to secure perfect and continued agreement by 
discharging the minister? Can you hope a more complete and en- 
during agreement than you have maintained by keeping him ? Who 
shall assure you — I do not say that you shall be perfectly unanimous in 
your next choice, but, if you are, that you shall be perfectly unani- 
mous three years afterwards, or more unanimous than you are with 
your present pastor this day — that, on the principle of dismission, in 
order that all may agree, you are not opening the door for frequent 
settlements and breakings-up — for endless confusion ? 

In regard to the secession, which has been named, and which, it 
may be presumed, would return under another pastor, I may say the 
same as in view of whatever dissatisfaction there may be in your pres- 
ent body. If you dismiss your minister, while, to quote your own tes- 
timony, he is worthy "of your confidence as a man, a public teacher, 
and a consistent Christian," and while you are not sensibly lessened 
in numbers or weakened in strength, in order that those who withdrew 
from you and yourselves may all agree, you will then establish a rule 
of agreement, which must prove the most fruitful of all methods of dis- 
agreement. What then will be wanting to the smallest nucleus of 
dissatisfaction but to hold on against the great mass of the people, and 
to dissent, and await the operation of the rule by which all are to agree? 



64 

To agree to what ? Why, to begin the short round of dissatisfaction 
and dissent, and agreement again; and yet again to go round, and yet 
again to go round that small circle of disagreement and agreement. . . . 
Let it not be thought that I am indifferent to the reunion of my friends 
with their ancient church and parish. I say my friends ; for, save only 
that I know they have withdrawn from my ministry, I have never been 
able to look upon them in any other light than those who have adher- 
ed. So far as I have thought I might, without being offensive to them, 
r have maintained the same friendly intercourse, and have been ever 
ready to meet every opening or application for neighborly kindness or 
pastoral service ; and most heartily do I wish and pray that they may 
see cause to shelter themselves under their ancient institution. But, 
in order to make their return a blessing, either to them or you, it must 
be on the true principle of Christian unity — the suhmission of the 
minority to the majority, and not of the majority to the minority — that 
all may agree. Should you dismiss your minister on the principle that 
the majority must yield to the minority, in order to unanimity, it may 
be expected to be long before you settle another minister. Such is not, 
such ought not, to be the custom of the churches. Such is not, such 
ought not, to be the custom of the country. When, at length, ray 
place is supplied, no doubt it will be on the old settled principle, that 
the minority must submit, so that all may agree. 

This principle being settled, the method of agreement is plain : 
agree to differ — while you yet retain your minister, so long as you 
find him worthy of your confidence, '* as a man, a public teacher, and 
a consistent Christian," and you have sufficient numbers and strength 
,to sustain him. Had I thought otherwise — had I thought that my re- 
signation would have assured you that perfect and continued unanimity 
which my quiet and peaceful course has ever aimed to promote, I 
would have resigned nine years ago, and left you to the enjoyment of a 
pastor in whom, all could agree. I did think otherwise; and 1 now think 
that you have had more peace and harmony for nine years past, are a 
less divided people now, than had I then resigned, or you discharged 
me. Judging from the experience of fourteen years since I first came 
among you, I anticipate no gain to the future by a separation now, in 
the beginning of change, that all may agree. I shall not contend with 
you. I do not wish any of you to contend for me, in order that I may 
hold my place. But I shall not give up my place, nor advise any of 
you to give me up, under the false idea of promoting peace thereby. 
The true way to avoid contention is not to contend ; to keep peace, is 
to he ^peaceful ; but not to forsake one's post of duty because there are 
signs of disagreement. 

If you look abroad upon the churches, you will find abundant and 
melancholy confirmation of the mistake of discharging a minister in 
order to secure a perfect and continued unanimity. Indeed, it is im- 
possible to keep pace with ordinations, installations, and dismissions. 
So rapidly they occur, so constantly do they keep the ministry in mo- 
tion, as to make good the caricature rule, " that every minister ought 
to be settled on horseback," and to require its counterpart, that " every 
parish ought to settle their minister with a saddle and bridle in their 
hands." So rapidly do they occur, so constantly do they keep the 
ministry and the people in change, as to show the whole ministry and 



65 

the whole people in two opposite and inconsistent characters, — the 
ministry at once popular and unpopular — liked and disliked — every- 
body's choice and everybody's refusal. The next minister settled that 
all may agree, is the last minister dismissed because all could not agree. 
The last minister dismissed because his usefulness was at an end, is 
the next minister received at the highest pitch of usefulness. It is a 
pity above all pities — a disgrace to the Christian name above all dis- 
graces — if the pastors are worthy to be so received and discarded. . . . 
If you ought to discard me, no other people ought to want me. If an- 
other people can call me, as worthy of their confidence as you thought 
me fourteen years ago, as you thought me three years ago, then 
you ought not to discard me; and in doing it you may find, instead of 
perfect agreement, that you have but established the principle, and 
made the beginning of perpetual discord and confusion. In voting, 
therefore, for or against your minister, vote according to your judg- 
ment of his worthiness or un worthiness, and not against that judg- 
ment, in the vain hope that to contradict yourselves, will secure com- 
plete and continued unanimity. 

Of course, you will not require me to seek union by preaching views 
different from those which I actually hold and uniformly declare, or by 
actions false to my principles. You will not require me now to begin 
to contradict the whole course of my ministry in word and deed, which 
I fully laid before the councilof 1840, and published to the world in 
the volume on Public Worship, and which you approved unanimously 
in your vote of April 1 1, 1840. I assure you I do not wish you to sus- 
tain me in the office of a Christian minister, on any other score than 
that I am to preach the preaching that I think God bids me, and both 
to do and to shun according to his word. I have tried to know truth, 
and to declare it — to know duty, and to do it — not in disregard to the 
feelings and wishes of those who may differ from me, but with all the 
sentiments and words and acts of kindness ; and this is the only ac- 
commodation, for the sake of union, that your conscientious good 
sense will either require or approve. You will never long be united 
in any man who makes it his rule to accommodate himself to the vari- 
ety and the changes of opinion which must always be e.xpected in any 
large community — the surest method of confusion. You will not long 
value and respect any man who does not maintain a conscientious and 
steadfast course, without contention on the one hand, or cringing ser- 
vility on the other — who does not walk upright and straight forward, 
without either kicking or creeping. You need not be alarmed if such 
a course shall again and again cause disapprobation here and there. 
Take time, and the conscientious good sense of the community will 
seal his conduct with their approval. What, for instance, if, last win- 
ter, there might have been a few who judged hardly of the minister, 
because he did not join the cry of the second advent for February or 
April, 1843, or at least try to make that false fear a means of doing 
good ; — would those few themselves, would the good sense of the peo- 
ple, have valued him more on this first day of May, or in 1844, or in 
1845, because he did not shun this profane and vain babbling of 
1843? 

Again, I do not overlook the fact that some have withdrawn them- 
selves from us, to connect themselves with our Methodist neighbors. 



66 

But what if they have 1 — if the vacancies they have made have been 
continually supplied by the natural growth and extension of the fami- 
lies that adhere ; by the flowing in of those who had never located 
themselves any where, and by the return sometimes of those who with- 
drew ; and if, on the whole, your means of providing the necessary 
supplies are not found to decrease? It is now more than twelve years 
that 1 have witnessed the occasional alarm that every body was going 
to the Methodists, and that your ministry would be left to bare walls, 
and that the burden of support would soon fall upon a handful of ad- 
herents ; and these fears have been proved causeless by a house as full 
as ever, and payments as numerous and as large as ever.* Besides, 
whatever differences of views and measures there are between me and 
my neighbors — and they are such as my own course makes sufficiently 
manifest — it has been my hope, from the beginning, that they would 
provide the advantages of a Christian institution for that large sur- 
plus population for which our house did not provide, which again and 
again, through the whole town, I have urged to public worship ; and if 
the Methodist house is well filled, what trouble is that to us, at least so 
long as our own house is not emptied thereby ? For my own part, ex- 
cepting only that I must not be understood as approving views and 
measures, which every body knows I do not, I see no reason why 
both I and you shall not rejoice, that, while our own numbers have 
been held good, while our own sittings are as fully taken as ever, and 
many of our pews are over seated, that our neighbors are well filled 
also. Instead of complaining or trembling at this, I have only to say, 
It is in accordance with my own earnest and persevering efforts, if not 
in any degree the consequence; and if, in addition to this fuller at- 
tendance on public worship, any or many have repented, and believed, 
and obeyed the gospel, then have they yielded to the very call which I 
have been making in this house, and over this whole town for fourteen 
years, and in their improvement I myself may justly claim no small 
share. The only question in this matter with which you have any , 
concern, in your deliberations to-day, are, whether, in view of a long 
course of years, you are accustomed to fill up whatever vacancies occur 
by the preference given to your neighbors, and whether your present 
ministry maintains the influence in the town which ought to be con- 
nected with your ancient establishment, and has yet so much interest 
in the minds of the people, that you can sustain it without unreasona- 
ble sacrifices. These things settled, you may renew your obligations 
to your minister without concern, letting those go freely who wish to 
go, and receiving those kindly who wish to come, and striving to bless 
the whole population, thankful if those who may differ from you carry 
out in any degree the desire of your own hearts and the work you have 
yourselves begun. 

Shall I say, yet further, that I have sometimes heard my want of 
success among you referred to as a reason why the great majority 
which has so long adhered to my ministry should give way, in order 
that a more successful minister might occupy my place. On this point 
I can have but little to say, except that, in my own judgment, I have 
fallen short of the success which I have earnestly sought, while, for a 

* Compare Memorial of September 23, 1845. 



67 

course of years, I have been in some humble degree longing after you 
all in the bowels of Jesus Christ; and to remind you how loudly and 
how steadily I have called for faith and repentance and meet works 
from every soul among you ; for the law of God in your hearts and on 
your door posts, and on your gates, and on the palms of your hands, 
and on your foreheads ; and how I have plead for your encouragement 
and warning, that the "same Lord over all is rich to all those," and 
only to all those, " who call upon him." 

And yet I might demand that the fault of mine, on which you might re- 
solve this day to cast me out, should be, that I liavc failed to give instruc- 
tion, not that you have failed to comply with that which I have given ! 
that I have failed to publish the gospel, not that you have failed to receive 
it ! that I have failed to attempt to present every man perfect in Christ 
Jesus, and not that you have failed to welcome, the grace which should 
*' present yuu, holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight." 
Surely the claim is too much, that I should be not only the teacher, but 
the learner, too, for every scholar that I teach ; not only to preach the 
gospel to you all, but to answer to you all because you yourselves do 
not believe and obey my message; because you yourselves will not be 
cleansed in the fountain opened for all ; nor " purify yourselves even 
as your Lord is pure," by that grace which is published to you all. In- 
stead of discharging your minister, because you refuse to comply with 
his instructions ; because you are not as penitent, and believing, and 
obedient, as good men and as consistent Christians, as his instructions 
require, it were better far to see your own error, and, instead of wait- 
ing for another minister, to yield to the instructions of him who is now 
set over you; to try to become as true converts and as faithful and sta- 
ble Christians as he claims of you : assured that you may search 
Christendom over, and not find a minister who can prove a blessing to 
you on any easier terms than your compliance with his instructions. 

And yet I am not willing to admit that I have labored altogether in 
vain among you I was sent for once, at dead of night, to a dy- 
ing bed; and, the moment I entered, the exclamation was, " I have 
sent for you to tell you how much you have helped me, again and 

again, for many years past." I trust that, in the day of account, 

there will be found many who, during these years have passed away, 
who were much helped by my humble ministry. I trust, also, that not 
all who are now alive have been utterly unprofited by the instructions of 
fourteen years; that I may have aided a clearer apprehension and 
deeper sense of the demands and the provisions of the gospel ; have 
prompted many minds to repentance and faith and obedience, and 
have sown seeds of early and large increase, yet to prove gloriously 

that I have not labored in vain Nay, as alre^ady intimated, I am 

not altogether unconnected with whatever successes may have resulted 
from the labors of others. I shall leave time to decide whether the 
successes of others are true and solid. But if they are, as all must 
wish, then the harvests which they have reaped, already white and 
ready to their hands, were from the seeds which I and my predecessors 
had sown: "Other men labored, and ye are entered into their 
labors." 

One other suggestion will prepare me for a close. If it was really 
the intention of the parish that their notice of March 7, 1842, should 



68 

issue in the dissolution of our relation "as pastor and people, I have 
nothing more to propose; though, in that case, I should have preferred 
a frank and unconditional six months' warning, instead of a measure 
intended to w^ear away our bonds. But, as I never had the impression 
that the vote of 1842 was intended by the parish in any different way 
from that of 1S37, when they resumed their obligation,* I shall pro- 
ceed to a suggestion which may aid the business of the day I 

have understood that, at the meeting, March 7, 1842, there was re- 
ported a debt of $250; while there was also an apparent unwillingness 
to continue the method of taxation ; and that the subscription was 
adopted as a trial of the minds of the people, and the notice given to 
satisfy the minds of any who might apprehend a danger of increasing 
arrears. The result is before you. The arrears, even if the pastor's 
claim had not been put in check, have not increased. Two dividends 
from your fund, namely, of April and October, 1842, must be suppos- 
ed nearly to have cancelled them ; while, if you resume your obliga- 
tions, as in 1837, they would come back again, in part at least, in a 
new debt, accruing since September 7 ; or, after collecting and apply- 
ing your subscription in the usual way, you may be in debt nearly as 
much as last year, that is, if you resume your obligations to the pastor. 
. . . . . There are, as there were a year ago, but two ways of meeting 
this debt ; the one, that it should fall upon the pastor ; the other, that 
it should fall upon the parish — a great burden to him, in the circum- 
stances which he has frankly stated — a light one to each of more than 
one hundred persons, if it be subdivided among them. Indeed, I have 
no doubt, if the subject had been completely before them, the subscri- 
bers would have cheerfully raised that additional sum last year, by a 
voluntary subdivision among themselves, and without any perceptible 
burden. Of course, it is submitted, not to my opinion, but to their 
own choice, whether they will do it this year; and I shall leave them, 

with much gratitude for their long kindness, to that choice But 

if it were more easy than it is for the pastor to bear the whole burden, 
there are reasons both on his account and yours, which may well make 

him hesitate. " A burnt child dreads the fire." My people in 

Galway became in debt to me about the same amount, besides owing 
three times that amount to two former pastors. I began with subscrib- 
ing one-tenth of the debt due myself — $25 I ended in deductions 

and losses to the amount of $500 ; and the important question is, was 
it with advantage to them 1 Why, when it was too late, they roused 
up, and, without one dissenting voice, subscribed my original $600, 
a sum I have always thought equal in value to $800 here. After my 
departure, and many difficulties of uniting, they called a man at $450, 
rising $50 upon my closing salary; and since their dismissal of him, 
after two or three years, my second and third successors have been set- 
tled, I understand, on $600 and $650 In truth, there was no 

gain to them in the pastor's payment of that debt. They meant it in no 
unkindness, as their last unanimous effort proved ; but there was no 
gain to them. If you make a similar proposition, I shall not take it as 
meant in unkindness; but, as a man of business, and somewhat obser- 
vant of such affairs, I venture to predict it will be no gain to you. 

* Compare Memorial of September 23, 1845. 



69 

The parish may well think that I am not altogether selfish, certainly 
that 1 am not inconsiderate, when 1 give my decided opinion that it is 
their best and even their easiest course to provide for their own arrears, 
and to pay their original salary. They will find themselves the stron- 
ger if they do so — the weaker if they do not. The small relief among 
so many is not motive enough for beginning the hazardous experiment, 
which never knows where to stop. 

Nevertheless, I have a suggestion to make, that is, only on the sup- 
position that the parish wish the relation to continue, and certainly not 
otherwise. If the parish, in view of the difficulties of the times, which 
I do not wish to overlook, and of the failure of any dividend from their 
fund this spring, think it indispensable, then will I submit to a deduc- 
tion from my original salary of $50 a year for five years from January 

1, 1842 This, of course, must check the surplus by which 1 had 

hoped to make good former deficiencies, but is better for me as well as 
the parish, than the indefinite proceeding, which, while it crushes me, 
cannot fail to weaken them. 

These statements and suggestions before you, I take it for granted 

you will act this day with promptness and decision If there be 

any question still on the good will of the people, you can settle it be- 
fore you part, by testing their willingness to do. If you prefer taxa- 
tion, you can decide to-day whether you are willing to tax yourselves 
for the sake of the present minister. If you prefer subscription, you 
can determine in half an hour as well as in six weeks, how far the par- 
ish may bind itself thereby As you fail or succeed before you 

part, you can govern your decision, and both pastor and people will 
know what they are about, instead of being in that indefinite state in 

which your last parish meeting left us However you decide, I 

shall proceed as if your decision were final. If you resume the rela- 
tion, I shall proceed as heretofore, thankful for your confidence and 
affection, and striving, I trust, more and. more earnestly to do you good. 

If you do not, I have nothing more to say. I shall make no 

complaint that you have used the right to which I consented in our 
original contract, and shall proceed in your service until the 20th of 
October, without further reference to the subject, and wishing it not to 
be referred to ; and shall endeavor to finish my six months as may be- 
come a Christian minister, employing his last and his short opportunity 
in doing good to a people long and tenderly beloved — in such a man- 
ner as not altogether to lose your confidence *' as a man, a public 
teacher, and a consistent Christian." 

In this case — that is, if you leave the relation to close on the 20th 
October next — you will then see cause for my request, " to take such 
measures as may belong to the parish, in order that the pastor may 
avail himself of the subscription for his services as pastor of the First 
Parish in Wareham," made in consequence of the vote March 7, 1842. 
This request was grounded on information received from the parish 
clerk, and manifest, on the subscription list itself, that that subscription 
had been chiefly collected and employed in payment of parish dues — a 
matter, of course, of no consequence, if the parish resume the relation, 
but requiring attention if they do not. The request has this impor- 
tance to me, that I have been deferring payment to many of you, await- 
ing the action of the last parish meeting, and now awaiting such decisions 
10 



70 

as may enable me to avail myself, as far as due, of my diminished 
means. 

I have now laid before you the matters which it seemed to me the 
case required. I have endeavored to prepare this paper with all the 
Christian deliberation due to the importance of the subject to you and 
me, and as became a paper which, in case of my dismission, must 
be laid before the council, as introductory to those inquiries into 
my character and conduct for fourteen years among you which may 
enable them to decide what testimony they shall bear of me to the 
churches ; whether, as you received me fourteen years ago, and as you 
declared unanimously three years ago, I am still worthy of *' confi- 
dence as a man, as a public teacher, and a consistent Christian." 

In conclusion, I have never wished for change. In truth, I dread 
it. When I came among you, the parting with the friends of six years 
seemed like the giving up of the ghost. I have now spent more than 
twice that number of years with you in love, and have arrived at an 
age when attachment to home and friends is more settled and perma- 
nent. Life is too short to be ever on the wing. In my domestic state, 
too, I have seen a young family grow up among you, wonted and at- 
tached ; and though part of them removed, in various ways of business, 
yet loving to return to their Wareham home and early friends. In 
truth, Wareham, by your long-continued confidence, has become more 
decidedly my home than any place since I left my father's house, at 
seventeen years of age ; and by about the same length of time that my 
memory could then trace. Of course, it is my decided wish to remain 
among you. I could not leave even the house I have lived in, the gar- 
den 1 have wrought, the trees I have planted and nurtured, the pleas- 
ant river and land points which have pleased my eyes for many years ; 
and, above all, I could not leave the friends whom I have loved, and the 
whole community, in whose welfare I have felt and cherished the deep- 
est interest, without regret Nevertheless, I would not leave you 

to understand that I am either distracted or desponding. I have yet, I 
trust, no wish, but, whether here or elsewhere, to be found bearing and 
doing whatever I may know to be the will of God. In all my changes 
hitherto, I have seemed to find his sustaining and guiding hand. And 
whatever may be the issue of your present meeting, I hope to find in 
my own bosom, and to show to you the fulfilment of the assurance, 
** Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, 
because he trusteth in thee." 

But if I dread change, have not you yet more occasion to dread it? 
However desirable it may be to me to retain my present office and income, 
it may be more desirable to you to retain me in it. For, while I may, 
in the favor of Providence, find more eligible circumstances, you may 
be but entering on the beginning of troubles. Again, if I wish the 
more to remain fixed, because I have staid so long, the same reason, it 
might be hoped, would make you desire that the relation be continued. 
It were to be regretted, if your full acquaintance with me, were the 
very reason for your choosing to run all the hazards of a change, if 
you wanted me, only while you did not know me; if you are ready to 
discharge me because you have found me out. Having tried to live in 
simplicity and godly sincerity, and having never come to that pass be- 
fore, I feel a humble confidence that it cannot be so now. 



n / 

On the other hand, with health rather improving than decaying, I 
am at an age which promises many years of full and faithful service, and 
at which, in civil and political life, the tree is expected to yield its ripest 
and most abundant fruit — when the highest interests of the country are 
supposed to be intrusted to wisdom and vigor, in a union which can- 
not be expected in early life. It were indeed a foul blot on Christian- 
ity, if the ministry were an exception to this expectation from mature 
age — if this hope ought not to govern the decisions of the parish. 

The truth is, however it may be with myself, neither character nor 
influence are acquired in a moment. The best injluences are those 
which came not, which go not, in a day — ichich, strengthened and ri- 
pened hy years, yield larger and still larger increase. And if I have 
been what I ought to have been for fourteen years among you, your 
reasons for retaining my services must be greater than when you gave 
me your unanimous call — reasons of the greatest importance to your- 
selves, and to those who shall live after you are gathered to your fa- 
thers. I desire to be useful to you — to all — to you and yours now ; but 
I have a still larger wish, namely, so to conduct myself as *' a man, a 
public teacher, and a consistent Christian" — so to proclaim and adorn 
the doctrine of my God and Saviour — to be so sound and stable in all 
the principles of truth and duty, that my influence may remain as the 
inheritance of you and yours after my decease ; so that what cannot 
belong to a ministry of short duration and frequent change, may re- 
main beyond the period of my natural life, a blessing to Wareham ; 
that, along with the memory of the lessons and virtues of ** Old Mr. 
Thatcher," and " Old Mr. Everett," there may be some profitable re- 
membrance and tradition of Old Mr. Nott. 

Your affectionate pastor, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 

Public Communication, 

Wareham, June 11, 1843. 

In order that the relation in which we stand, as pastor and people, 
may be duly known and considered, it is proper to state that I learn 
from the records that the parish meeting called at my request for defi- 
nite and decided action, has been dissolved without any action in the 
case. Of consequence I am obliged to receive it as the expressed will 
of the parish that our relation as pastor and people shall end on the 
20th of October next, contrary to my desire and hope expressed in my 
address to the parish May 1. 

If the parish do not wish the connection dissolved, no doubt they will 
take speedy measures to prevent what they do not desire and intend, 
before any measures on my part shall render the separation unavoida- 
ble. Where there is a will, there may be found a way. 

If it is not the will of the parish that the relation be continued, I 
shall feel myself at liberty, without long delay, to take my own meas- 
ures accordingly ; as I shall be compelled, in about three months, to 
request the church to unite with me in an ecclesiastical council, to in- 
quire " into my character and conduct for fourteen years among you ;" 
and to decide what testimony they shall bear of me to the churches. 
If the parish leave the case as they left it on Monday last, I have only 
to say, in the language of my address May 1, — 



72 

} " I shall endeavor to finish my six months as may become a Chris- 
tian minister, employing his last and his short opportunity in doing 
good to a people long and tenderly beloved, in such a manner as not 
altogether to lose your confidence * as a man, a public teacher, and a 
consistent Christian.' " 

Wareham, June 16, 1843. 

To the Moderator of the last Parish Meeting: Dear Sir, — You 
have taken pains to signify to me that the dissolution of the last parish 
meeting without action in the matters before them is not, in your opin- 
ion and that of others, to be understood as expressing the will of the 
great mass of the people against the continuance of my office among 
you as pastor. On the other hand, you have renewed the view pre- 
sented me by the committee of the parish, during their sitting of June 4, 
namely, that the face and prospects of the subscription list for 1843 
warrant the expectation of a revenue from subscription alone of about 
seven hundred dollars. At the same time, you stated to me your deep 
regret that, notwithstanding this fair prospect, the parish did not seem 

disposed to assume any responsibility whatever. In this state of 

things, you have asked me whether I would accept the responsibility of 
individuals. I have already made answer, by word of mouth. I pro- 
ceed in this paper to give that answer, in an exact and permanent form. 
I shall be glad if it may be filed among the documents of the parish. 
The time must come when the public will approve it. 

1. So far as security could be desired, of course the responsibility of 
such individuals as you have named would be perfectly satisfactory. . , 
And yet, if the question were on security alone, I must object to laying 
a burden on a few which belongs to the many. If they were to suffer 
from their bond, I should be unwilling to accept from them more than 
their own part of the public obligation. 

2. As a public man, serving a public body, I object altogether. A 
parish is not a mere collection of individuals, but a public body, exist- 
ing from year to year, and from generation to generation, like a town, 
a state, a nation. It is banded together; it is made compact and firm ; 
it lives by its obligations and responsibilities — by its common liabilities 
for the public service — by requiring and receiving the contributions of 
its members for the general well being — by its continued action in sus- 
taining its responsibilitiee It is thus that a parish lives from 

year to year and from age to age, while its successive members are 
passing from life and rising into life, still undecayed and strong. It 
lays, indeed, some burdens, requires some duties, receives some gifts 
from its several members; but it returns more than it takes. It makes 
property more valuable, as it is received from ancestors, and descends 
to posterity, or as it passes from hand to hand, and is used for the pur- 
poses of life. It so aids education and the public morals, so promotes 
all that is desirable for the present life, and all that is profitable for the 
life to come, as to be indispensable among the institutions of society. 
The individual, the family, the school district, the town, the state, the 
nation, receive its care like waters at the root. Such a parish, almost 
a century old, I found here in 1829. With such a parish I have lived 
fourteen years, and seen it vigorous and active at the beginning of its 
second century, and have enjoyed its advantages in my own person and 



73 

family. It has never refused to take its obligations on itself. It has 
never suffered by fulfilling them; nor has any individual felt a burden 
thereby, which was worthy to be named in comparison with the ad- 
vantages received. 1 should feel as if I were unworthy to be your 
minister, and were encouraging you to unworthiness, if I were to 
accept the kind offers of individuals, in lieu of the obligations of the 
parish itself. At any rate, I must submit to all the hazards of losing 
place and income, rather than do a thing so contrary to what seems to 
me to belong to a public man in fair and honorable dealing with a 
public body. If the parish, after the vigorous life of a hundred years, 
begin to refuse all responsibility to its pastors, I will not be the first on 
that list. If the parish depart from the way of their fathers, of all New 
England, and of the Christian world — if it will not breathe the life of a 
definite responsibility — if it will begin to die — it must do so without 
any sanction or agreement on my part 

I take this occasion to say, further, that my refusal to accept of the 
proposition made me by the committee of the parish, during their ses- 
sion June 4, and my adhesion to my communication of May 1, were not 
at all from any want of confidence in the subscribers, nor from any 
conviction that it was desirable, either for me or the parish, that we 
should part. Indeed, had I considered it the true method of sustaining 
and preserving the parish, and that it belonged to me to take charge of 
the finances, and had your committee added yet further the offer of 
the avails of your fund after the existing parish arrears had been can- 
celled, I would gladly, as a man of business, have accepted your pro- 
posal, as at least equal to my proposal of May 1 ; that is, beginning with 
1842; that I would have paid your debt in five years, with only the 
deduction of fifty dollars a year from my original salary 

And why could I not? You actually paid me $800 for five years 
from 1832, when you received only $517 a year from subscribers, and, 
with $545, w^ould have done it without arrears. With these data for 
my assurance, I would have had no hesitation as a man of business, if 
I had set to work as my own financier, but that I would have accom- 
plished the payment of your arrears at a less sacrifice of salary than I 
proposed May I. I need not say how much out of place and out of 
character I should be in such an undertaking. As I believe the 
subscribers speak their sentiments on the subscription list, and that the 
parish meant what they spoke, when they sent their committee to re- 
quest my acceptance of that list, and do not wish the connection dis- 
solved, I will close this letter by my own suggestions as to what should 
be done, namely : 

1. That two or three individuals undertake, without delay, to com- 
plete thoroughly the subscription list begun May I, that the full amount 
may be ascertained. 

2. That, in so far as the reluctance of the parish to assume respon- 
sibility, as is alleged has grown out of non-payment of former assess- 
ments, that the individuals concerned be applied to, to do at least what 
they may think belongs to them, according to the rule of mutual svp- 
port, by which all public bodies must exist. 

3. The probable net avails of the above means being ascertained, 
that a parish meeting be then called, to resume the original obligations 



t4 

of the parish, or to make such definite propositions to the pastor as 
these means, in connection with the fund, may warrant. 

This being done, however low you set the terms, whether it be such 
as I ought to accept, or you ought to offer, or not, there will at least be 
proof that the parish, as a public body, lives and breathes, with some 
promise of life in the time to come. 

With my mind made up, as on May 1, to accept your renewed obli- 
gations, with thankfulness; or your refusal, with cheerful submission; 
and wishing that my prayers and labors for the good of the people may 
be blessed, whether I preside over the parish for a longer or shorter 
period, 

I remain your affectionate pastor, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 

Wareham, July 31, 1843. 

To the Parish: Dear Friends, — To meet the inquiries of several 
parishioners, I beg to repeat my proposition of May 1, with an addi- 
tional clause, which will make it plain, beyond all doubt, as follows, 
namely : 

•• I will submit to a deduction from my original salary of fifty dol- 
lars a year for five years from January 1, 1842, the condition of a six 
months' notice remaining as heretofore." 

It has been pleasing to me to learn that the subscription made since 
my full and frank communication of May 1, promises to be as available 
as the one preceding, and more available than the average of your 
taxes and subscriptions in the most prosperous times ; thus justifying 
the calculation on which my proposition was based. With like sub- 
scriptions hereafter, and supposing the subscribers to hold together in 
parish relation, so as to be entitled to the avails of the parish fund, the 
arrears for which my proposition was intended to provide, will be can- 
celled at the end of the five years, and a balance be left in the treasury, 
without any extra subscription or assessment. 

My proposition was limited to five years, because no longer time 
seemed needful, and I wished the parish to see how needful 1 thought 
the surplus fifty dollars was to me in the circumstances frankly declar- 
ed. You will readily suppose, however, that my proposition was made 
under the impression that the deduction would become permanent, and 
continue as long as our relation. I think it therefore best to say, not- 
withstanding all my needs, with thankfulness to the parish for all their 
kindness, and trusting in Providence, that I shall not object to such 
a vote as the following, namely : 

That the parish resume their original obligations to the pastor, with 
the exception that the salary be seven hundred and fifty dollars a year, 
reckoning from January J, 1842; the condition of a six months' notice 
remaining as heretofore. ♦• 

In the hope that our relation may long continue, and that greater 
fidelity on my part and yours may be accompanied with the greatest 
blessings to you and to your families, 

I remain your affectionate pastor, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 



75 

To S. Gibbs, N. Hamblin, E. Crocker , Committee. 

I hereby accept the terms proposed in the following vote : 

** Voted (at parish meeting, July 31, 1843), That the parish resume 

their original contract with Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., from January 1, 

1843, except that we pay him seven hundred dollars, instead of eight 

hundred, per year, provided he will accept the same. 

With earnest desires and prayers that our agreement in this matter 

may be followed by blessings above all price, 

I remain your affectionate pastor. 



FIFTH PERIOD— FROM AUGUST, 1843, TO APRIL 17, 1844. 
Application for Re-admission. 

We, the undersigned, members of the Trinitarian Church in Ware- 
ham, feeling that we might better promote the cause of our blessed Re- 
deemer by dissolving our connection with said church, for the purpose 
of uniting with the First Congregational Church in said Wareham, do 
hereby lay our request before said Congregational Church, hoping that 
they may receive us again into full connection, believing and praying, 
as we do, that the old church, set up by our forefathers in Wareham, 
for which we have always had the kindest feelings, will continue, and 
receive a blessing from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that shall 
continue it as a light to the world through future ages. 

[Signed by eleven males and four females.] 

At a church meeting called to consider this request, September 8, 
the following motion was decided in the negative, namely, — That the 
request of the Trinitarian Church be granted, and that a mutual coun- 
cil be called to carry this vote into effect. 

This vote being negatived, other resolutions were then moved, and 
the following substitute was passed, namely : 

Voted, That the request of the Trinitarian Church be referred to a 
mutual council, to examine the records of this church in reference to 
their dismission, to make such inquiries as to their present views, as 
they see proper; and if they see good cause, then to dissolve the Trin- 
itarian Church, and to incorporate its members with this body. 

The resolutions suggested by the pastor, to which the preceding 
substitute was moved, were as follows, namely : 

L That this church is ready, on a proper mutual understanding, and 
in a regular way, to give a most hearty welcome to their brethren and 
sisters of the Trinitarian Church, or to any of them, in the hope, ac- 
cording to their expression, that we, as well as they, may, by our re- 
union, ** b^ter promote the cause of our blessed Redeemer." 

2. That the kind and Christian expressions of their application re- 
quire the supposition that they are ready and desirous to unite with us 
as we are and as we were ivhen they went out from us ; that is, to sit 
down with us under the present ministry of the word and ordinances, 
and that there is no existing difficulty in the way of a happy, enduring, 
and useful re-union. 



76 

3. Nevertheless, as their communication is silent on that point ; as 
the grievances on which they sought their dismission are on the rec- 
ords of this church, and were laid openly before the churches and the 
world ; as those grievances have been manifested until now, by their 
uniform absence from the ministrations of our pastor, up to the date of 
their request, when destitute of the word and ordinances themselves; — 
therefore, — 

Vutecl, That we consider it as belonging to Christian open-hearted- 
ness and plain dealing, and as required by the importance and publici- 
ty which they have given to their grievances, and by their visible ad- 
herence to them until now, to declare that our cordial welcome is voted 
only on the understanding that the grievances which appear on our 
records and in the documents laid befiSre the council of 1840, are, after 
long reflection, given up as groundless, or at least so far given up, that 
our brethren and sisters are now ready and desirous to sit down with 
us under the ministry which they find over us — to do their several part 
with the parish in sustaining it; and to unite with us in the earnest en- 
deavor to be profited and to profit others by the " preaching and pro- 
cedure " to which, by their communication, they do, in effect, ask to 
return. 

4. Voted, further. That, if these brethren and sisters do retain their 
old dissatisfaction with the preaching and procedure of the pastor, so 
far that they are not ready to sit down under his ministry to be profited 
themselves and aid the profit of others, then it is not for the comfort or 
usefulness of either them or us that they be received. It cannot be 
desirable on their part or ours that a course which led to the forewarn- 
ing of church censures should be aforethought begun; that a union for 
the sake of disunion should be aforethought attempted; that, having 
been dismissed '* for the sake of peace," they should be received for the 
purpose of contention and strife, on a matter where they do not expect 
or intend to agree. 

5. That, if our brethren and sisters of the Trinitarian Church be 
not yet prepared to unite with us on the understanding required, then 
do we most cordially and earnestly invite and urge them to make trial 
of attending divine worship and ordinances with us, as members of a 
sister church, for such length of time as they may find necessary, in 
order to unite with us cordially under the pastor they find in charge, or 
by being confirmed in their old dissatisfaction, to withdraw their re- 
quest It is our hope that a six months' candid and prayerful at- 
tendance, striving to be profited and to profit others, would prepare 
the way for a happy, useful, and enduring re-union. 

6. That these votes are passed in agreement with our expressions of 
August 17, 1838, renewed February 2, 1840, on record, " in the un- 
feigned desire and hope that our brethren and sisters will yet return, 
welcomed to our bosom, and proceed with us in mutual affection and 
diligence in the great work of mutual edification and of pni)lic useful- 
ness, burying forever the dissatisfaction which has been expressed 
in kind oblivion, as a subject which has no occasion even to be 
named." 

7. That the officers of this church are hereby authorized to unite 
with a committee of the Trinitarian Church whenever they shall de- 
clare themselves ready , in calling a mutual council, *' if they see cause 



,<77 

to dissolve the Trinitarian Church, constituted by council March 24, 
1840, and to incorporate its members with us, according to the mutual 
understanding required by the votes of the First Congregational 
Church, passed September 8, 1843." 

October 20, 1843. 

The church being called " to see whether they would take any fur- 
ther action in regard to the request of the Trinitarian Ciiurch, refused 
to reconsider the vote of September 8, eight voting in the affirmative, 
nine in the negative. The pastor read the following paper : 

Pastor's Communication. 

The question before the church is of great importance, whether in 
regard to its present or future welfare, or whether it be considered in 
regard to itself alone, or in its connection with all the churches. I 
have taken pains, therefore, to present my own opinion with great care, 
and in a form which may remain for reference and use hereafter. 

I recommend and urge the church to adhere strictly to their vote of 
September 8, for the simple reason that it is, without a doubt, the vote 
which it was right to pass — the very vote of all others which was most 
proper and right in the circumstances, and by which, therefore, they 

may safely and ought to stand fast I shall, before I close, suggest 

an addition to this vote, which you may adopt if you see cause ; but I 
advise that there be no change in your original vote. Providentially 
you were right at first — exactly right — so exactly right that, try what- 
ever other way you will, you cannot be so nearly right, and will be 
wrong just in proportion as you depart from that true and right vote. 
.... You may try six years, instead of six weeks — you may consult 
clergymen and lawyers — you may submit the question to councils — 
and it is so plainly right that you will only find that, providentially, you 
voted exactly right the first time — that it is impossible for you to pass 
any other vote so just and so Christian — that any other of the hundred 
which might be proposed in its stead, would be less just and less 
Christian. You cannot depart from that just and Christian vote with- 
out making matter for regret In truth, there is no other right 

way of meeting the request of your brethren, but that marked out, in as 
{ew words as possible, in your vote of Sept. 8 — without submitting the 
records and facts in the case to the inquiry and the judgment of a 
council. 

Think of it carefully for yourselves. Can there be any right way 
but to submit their request to be received, to the very same kind of 
court as you did their request to be dismissed ? Will you take the 
judgment into your own hands now, and out of the hands of the 
churches, to whom you submitted it then ? Will you take it upon 
yourselves to reverse what they did at your request, without consulting 
them; and thus, in regard to making aud unmaking Churches, put 
yourselves out of fellowship with the sisterhood of churches to which 
you belong? 

Again, is there any right way of submitting the question to the 
judgment of council without submitting the facts, in the best of ali 
11 



forms — the record of those facts — and without inquiry as to the pres- 
ent views of the applicants in comparison therewith Can there 

be any right way lor a new council to act, without first knowing how 
and why the former council acted, and what new reasons may have 
arisen for undoing what they did — for receiving those whom they de- 
cided siiould be dismissed ? Is it right to call men to judge without 
opening to them the means of judgment? Have you any right to call 
a council to do your business, except in the right way? Must not any 
proposal for a council be wrong which does not require the examina- 
tion of the records, and an inquiry as to the present views of the appli- 
cants? This is the right way; and no different way can be right. 

All this is true in every case where there has been a record ; and 
where a former decision is submitted to a new investigation. How 
peculiarly important in the present case; and that, whichever supposi- 
tion you make as to the present views of the applicants. 

Suppose, then, that their views are altered, and that they are no 
longer dissatisfied with the preaching and procedure of the pastor, and 
give up those serious charges which they laid before the council of 
1840; is there any right way of returning but to acknowledge their 
error as publicly and openly as those charges were made ? Is there 
any other way in which they could wish or even be willing to return 
to his ministry ? 

Or suppose their views unaltered, and that they think it most for the 
good of the cause that they should come into full connection, that they 
may renew their efforts for his removal ; is there any right loay of re- 
turning but in the open and frank avoival of their views 1 And what 
else can they wish but the opportunity to repeat and justify their for- 
mer charges, and thereby not only to re-enter the church, but to gain 
strength by the renewed effort to accomplish a removal, which they 
have so many years desired ? At any rate, is it right to ask a council 
to decide, without asking them to find out which of these suppositions 
is true % 

Again, the examination and inquiry are the more necessary, in viev\^ 
of the whole history of these brethren and sisters since they were sepa-^ 
rated from you. They were set up side by side with you, in fellow- 
ship, but they have remained voluntarily out of fellowship. They have 
not had regular services, so much as one half of the time, and yet they 
have had no fellowship with you in the services of your pastor, with the 
exception, it is believed, of two individuals, and in their case not more 
than twice. They have not had the Lord's supper on their own part, 
it is believed, for about two years; and yet, with the exception of one 
individual, for once, they have never communed with you. Nay, with 
the request to return into full communion on their lips, they still keep 
out of communion. The very day their request was laid before you, 
they were, with the one exception named, away from your worship and 
the Lord's table, and, with one other instance of exception, have re- 
mained absent until now. Is there any right way for a council to 
judge in such a case, without both examining the records, and inquiring 
as to their present views ? Is there any right way to call a council, 
except to call them to do this ? 

Again, the reasons for standing fast to your vote are increased by 
the reluctance of your brethren to comply with it You opened 



79 

the door for their return six weeks to-day — the right door — as wide 
open as possible, and it has been kept open the whole time, and yet 
they have not returned Nay, they have been at the pains of re- 
questing you to meet them in conference, in order to induce you to 
open some other door — to gain your vote — I trust not to engage before- 
hand your vote — to admit them without " a council to examine the rec- 
ords, and to inquire as. to their present views;" to induce you, as 1 was 
informed by the deacon, as your messenger, to vote to receive them 
without referring the matter to council, on their being dissolved by 

some council cailed by themselves alone Surely you cannot think 

it right to vote to receive these members, if they are unwilling to have 
the record of the former council and your former doings reviewed, and 
to have their own views inquired into; unless they are willing either 
in Christian humility to acknowledge their error, if they think they 
have been in error, or in Christian boldness to stand by the right, if 
they think they were formerly right. Surely you cannot think that, 
when you have offered them a mutual council — when you have volun- 
teered to them the choice of one-half their own judges — you are bound 
to yield to them an ex parte council, and to declare beforehand that 
you will accept their doings ; that, when a mutual council has been 
declined, you will agree to submit to an ex parte council! ! This is 
the most unheard-of, the most uncalled-for condescension, and will be 
so esteemed wherever its fame shall reach. Hitherto ex parte coun- 
cils have been the resort, where a mutual council has been denied. It 
is reserved, perhaps, for Wareham to offer an ex parte council to 
those who have refused the free offer of a mutual council to judge an 
affair which, by their application, they cast altogether into our own 
hands. 

You may look a little further if you will. Suppose you set 
aside your vote, referring records, inquiry, and decision to a mutual 
council— suppose you agree to receive them when a council of 
their own calling shall dissolve them — suppose that council to con- 
clude from that vote, and from the request which they have made 
us, that the old objections are laid aside, and that there is now 
the happiest prospect of union and co-operation with the pastor, to 
whose ministry they deliberately return — as, of course, ought to be 
concluded from that silent re-union. But suppose, yet further, that 
all this is not true, and that they retain the very views on which they 
went out, and are ready to enter upon measures for his dismission as 
their highest duty, and that your union came to pass only by blinding 
an ex parte council as to the merits of the case ! How will you meet 
the churches six months afterwards, when you ask them to dismiss the 
minister on a grievance often years — the grievance at the dismission, 
and the grievance at the return ? What think you those churches will 
say of our unfair dealing, of the deception we palmed upon them, the 
falsehood which at least we acted, in bringing about our re-union ? 
Be sure, dear brethren, that you do no such thing, unless you would 
hear the churches by and by cry out against you, and say. Why did 
you not use Christian simplicity when you came together? Why take 
our aid in making an agreement that declared every thing settled, 
when, in truth, it was only a movement to make every thing un- 
settled ? 



80 

This right view of the case is not altered by any change of views in 
this church in regard to the minister, which may be supposed since 
1840. If, in regard to the preaching and procedure of your pastor, 
you have come to differ among yourselves, and some, whether few or 
many, to agree with the complaints of 1840, and for this very reason 
your brethren wish to return — that is no reason why you should not 
have your records examined, and the inquiries made, but why you 
should ; that this change of views may be known, and acted upon, ac- 
cording to the best judgment of the council The only person to 

whom this could be thought objectionable is the pastor himself. But 
be assured he will make no objections. If the case be so, as has been 
alleged, let it come out before such a council, and form one of the 
grounds of their decision. The pastor wishes no delay in bringing the 
question in regard to his relation to a point; and though a council, 
so called, can have no direct action in regard to it, it must have a 
most intimate connection with it. Let it appear, if it be true, that the 
majority of the two churches, when united, will be found dissatisfied as 
by the papers of 1840, and are desirous of the dismissal of the min- 
ister ; and let the council, if they see cause, admit the members with 
that intention The pastor, so far from wishing the matter to lin- 
ger, has intended, has tried, is trying, to bring it to a point; and, in 
order to aid the matter, if you decide as I trust you will, to remain 
steadfast to your vote of the 8th, he proposes that you then pass the ad- 
ditional vote — a vote which would have been out of place at your for- 
mer meeting, namely : 

That the council make such inquiries of the original church and 
their pastor as they see proper. 

Should it appear to such a couucil that the views of this church are 
altered, and that it is right to bring them together with the intention of 
displacing the minister, the way will be prepared instantly to call the 
parish to a six months' notice, and in due course of time to issue 
the matter according to their wishes. The very moment you have a 
majority of the church, and a majority of the parish, you have the way 
all clear among yourselves; and, by your contract with the pastor, six 

months only are required to bring the relation to a close Do not 

think that I am unwilling that my preaching and procedure should be 
canvassed, or that I will lay one unnecessary bar in the way of the re- 
entry of my brethren, even though, as I was led to suppose by the dec- 
laration of one of them before the committee, they will come believing 
it to be their duty to do all they can to displace me. As I said to 
that brother, I will do all I can to gain their friendship, and to do them 
good, and to make them aid me in doing the good to this whole peo- 
ple which I have ever aimed at ; and if, on their return, the church and 
the parish should at length give me an unconditional six months' no- 
tice, I hope to receive it without complaint, and to devote myself to 
their service and the service of all for the last six months as becomes 
one who has made it his endeavor to save the people by the truth, and 
who hopes to reap, in that six months, a harvest from the sowing of his 
own fourteen years, and of all his predecessors. Do not think that the 
subject of dismission is new to me, or that — dreading change, as before 
the parish I said I did — I am not familiar with, and in some sense prepar- 
ed for the shock. It is now at least in the tenth year since it has been 



81 

most familiar to my mind, and not without an antidote to that fear. It 
was in April, 1834, just after I had read before the church my paper 
on protracted meetings, that the Rev. Mr. Holmes urged me to consent 
to such a meeting, as the only means of saving me from being dismiss- 
ed. We walked the garden for an hour, and I closed the conversation 
at length by the following expressions : 

" Brother Holmes, do you suppose I do not know where I stand ? I 
know that I stand where, any moment, I am liable to be blown into the 

air But I have yet to learn that it is unsafe to do what, in my 

whole soul, I believe to be right. Who is he that shall harm you, if 
ye be followers of that which is good ? " . . . From April, 1834, 1 have 
had sufficient time to become familiar with my danger. Happy shall 1 
be if, in the hour of trial, I shall prove unharmed in the following of 
that which is good. 

Do not think there is any unkindness, any want of love, any want of 
Christian reconciliation, in your vote of September 8, and in remain- 
ing firm and fixed in it. There may be unkindness in your hearts ; 
and if there be, let the leaven of malice be cast out with abhorrence; 
but there is no unkindness in that just and Christian vote. Is there 
any unkindness in requiring that the case should be known and all 
proper inquiries made 1 — in opening the way for your brethren to ac- 
knowledge their wrong, if they think they have been wrong, or to 
stand manfully and frankly by the right, if they have been right, as 
publicly and before such a tribunal as when they were dismissed ? 

There is no true love and kindness except on right principles. 
There is no way of making a Christian union by stepping over all or- 
der and right in order to come together. To do so would be rather 
but the *' making up " of children — the true way for children's " fall- 
ing out." The true way to be reconciled to your brethren is to feel 
toward them all kindness, and to take away every wrong, if you have 
put any in the way of their return ; but it is not to take away any right. 
If you have required any unreasonable thing, then brotherly love bids 
you take it out of the way ; if you h^ve required only reasonable 
things, then brotherly love, ay, and peace and unity, require you not to 
remove it, but to hold it firm, that, when you do unite, it may be on 
right principles, with the hope of a useful and enduring union. Do 
not try to make return- easy by taking away any difficulty that is just 
and Christian. You cannot make it thus easy to return without mak- 
ing it too easy to go out again. If you take away the just bars to com- 
ing within the fold, you will find you have taken away the just bars to 
going out again, and will thus find that your church has no fence of 
enclosure at all. Take care that you conduct this matter so orderly, 
so rightly, without taking away one right bar, that the record and the 
tradition may be a check upon needless divisions in all time to come, 
and that the report thereof going abroad may strengthen the enclosures 
of all the churches around you. 

There is one supposition on which you cannot do your brethren a 
greater kindness, as well as greater justice to yourselves, than by stand- 
ing fast to your vote, and thus requiring their original grievance to 
come under their consideration once more before the churches. It 
may be that your brethren have been in the wrong, and that your with- 
drawal of your just and Christian vote would make you helpers in the 



82 

greatest evil that any of us can suffer — success in a torong course. I 
must here speak of myself. Allow, me, then, to say, 1 came among 
you fourteen years ago, with an honest and earnest desire to prove my- 
self a true and faithful minister of Jesus Christ I gave you, be- 
fore your call, in the plainest terms, my views of the crowning gift of 
Christianity — the Holy Ghost — and of Christian character and duty, as 
you will find them, pp. 205 — 208, of the volume entitled Public Wor- 
ship. I have endeavored carefully and prayerfully to preach and live 
according to that specimen; and, in the mean while, I have laid be- 
fore you and the world those specimens of doctrine and character, in the 
tract entitled, Preaching and Procedure, in the Telescope, in the Ser- 
mons from the Fowls of the Air and the Lilies of the Field, and in the 
Sermons on Public Worship, and have endeavored to form my charac- 
ter according to the holy truths which it has been my office and my 
privilege to proclaim. I have endeavored to be a true and consistent 
minister for the term of fourteen years, ever seeking to do you good, 
according to the specimen on which you called me, in all the stead- 
fastness required by the permanent doctrines and privileges of the gos- 
pel, and with Christian kindness unto all, and no less to these brethren 
themselves than to others; and am not without an humble hope that, 
as a Christian minister, I have had and have part in the promise of my 
Lord, *' Lo I am with you alway." Is it, then, I ask you, my dear 
brethren, is it too much for me to say, these brethren may have been in 
the wrong, and you yourselves may become in the wrong, if you aid 

them to prosper therein They may have been in the wrong in 

those remarkable charges, which I heard with utmost astonishment at 
the meeting of church members in April, 1834, and which were re- 
peated to me by the Rev. JMr. Holmes as having reached him in New 
Bedford, and which I publicly replied to in the Sermon on the trum- 
pet's giving an uncertain sound, published in 1839. They may have 
been wrong in the still more remarkable charges laid before the coun- 
cil of 1840, so entirely contradicted by a thousand printed pages, and, 
I would humbly hope, by a consistent Christian life. It may be that 
your brethren have taken a wrong stand before you, this community, 
the churches, and the world, and have been holding up for years 
groundless charges, hindering thus the progress of the true gospel 
among you, instead of aiding it by their co-operation and their prayers, 
and you may become partakers of their wrong if you aid them to prosper 
therein. If it be so, can you do them a greater kindness than by re- 
quiring them to meet the examination and inquiry demanded by your 
vote, and thus to pause for reflection, and for the impartial advice of 
the churches, and, if, indeed, they have been in the wrong, for repent- 
ance too; and can you do justice to yourselves by withdrawing that 
kind demand ? On the supposition that they have been in the wrong, 
this is not only the kindest to them, the most just to you, but it is the 
Christian method of re-union. Nor think this impossible Dea- 
con, I say to all as I said to you weeks ago, do not think even this im- 
possible. Do not think it impossible that a difficulty in a Christian 
church may be even so settled. Do not think that there is no way of 
peace in a Christian church but by separating those who differ — no 
way of re-union to those separated but by yielding to the wrong on 
which that separation may have taken place ** No, sir," I said to 



83 

the deacon ; no, brethren, I say to you ; this is not the nature of our 
blessed Christianity : this is not all that I am bound, as a Christian 
minister, to hope for in regard to those over whom 1 have been set 
in charge. 1 believe in the power of the Christianity I preach, in 
turning to repentance those within, as well as without the church — in 
giving repentance as well as remission of sins within as well as without 
the fold of Christ. I have no praise to pronounce upon myself All I 
say is, 1 have tried to maintain Christian and ministerial fidelity among 

you I have no reproach to cast upon my brethren. All I need 

say is, they may have been wrong ; and if they have, then is there a 
higher, holier, more Christian ground of union than by withdrawing 
your vote — by yielding to the wrong they have done — without exami- 
nation and inquiry as to the grounds of their removal and their present 

views It is not for me to decide what judgment the council of 

1843 will pronounce, how far my views of the matter will be approved 

by our neighbors when they shall come and search us out But I 

can conceive them to take such views, to give such advice, and to be 
so aided therein by the blessed Spirit, as to bring these brethren to a 
true repentance of their wrong — if wrong, indeed, they have been — 
to a thankful acknowledgment that, in false kindness, you did not re- 
cede from your right and Christian vote, and to a cordial re-union with 
myself, even in the great work to which 1 am devoted. Should it be 
so — even though they might still prefer other modes of preaching and 
procedure — should they re-unite with me in all that is scriptural in 
mine, and in the high aim to adorn the Christianity we profess by well 
ordered lives and conversation — who shall tell us that the heavens 
would not pour down a blessing upon us, that there would not be room 
to receive, overflowing upon multitudes far and wide around us ; that 
there should not be that success of which I have so long declared my 
hope, " more extensive, more reaching to every heart, more pure, and 
deep, and lasting, and growing, than either we or our fathers have 
known." 

In conclusion, we stand admonished this day that there is one above 
us against whose councils nothing can prosper, and to whose sovereign 
will we may commit all that concerns ourselves or the church. He 
has smitten our holy and beautiful house with the lightning from heav- 
en, and laid waste our pleasant things, bidding us be humble, penitent, 
and faithful in all our attempts to serve him, and to remember how 
suddenly and how soon we may be called to render our account. 

From Sermon on Fast-dciy, October 26, 1843, on Occasion of the In- 
jury to the Meeting-House by Lightning. 

I do not think it right to pass over in silence the internal divisions 
among ourselves, and which we are no doubt called upon by this sol- 
emn providence to make a matter of deep consideration and earnest 
prayer, if haply in regard to this also we may say, — Thou hast torn, 
and thou wilt heal us; thou hast smitten, and thou wilt bind us up. 
Be it our prayer that all differences of opinion may be turned to agree- 
ment, in that which is true, and lovely, and of good report; or, if that 
be denied us, that we may have the grace to agree to differ — to 
differ with mutual kindness and good will^ either as separate bodies 



84 

living in Christian neighborhood, or as different members of the same 

body, kindly differing in ail matters wherein we cannot agree 

There is one rule of peace which can never fail us as individuals, and will 
go far to produce harmony in the whole body or neighborhood to which 
we belong. Be at peace in your own bosom. Be kindly disposed one 
to another, and you will both be at peace, and in degree a peacema- 
ker Be assured that an unkind, party-like, evil speaking attach- 
ment to me will give me no satisfaction. As you have occasion, state 
your principles, but without disputings. Act honestly, steadfastly, ac- 
cording to your principles, but without contention ; and when your 
action shall become ineffectual, then submit patiently to providence — 
kindly to those who differ from you in the social body to which you 
belong. In this way only can you do your part in turning unto the 
Lord, and promoting the prosperity of our Zion. 

With regard to myself, as the cause of difficulty, I have a few words 
to say — not, I trust, untimely — not unsuited to this solemn occasion. 
Let me, then, say, that I have no personal difficulty with any one — 
with few or with m any. I came among you in the honest and earnest state- 
ment of principles to which I have endeavored honestly and earnestly, 
and as inoffensively as possible, to hold fast, as became a consistent 
man and Christian : of those principles you have before you the epit- 
ome given before my call, as quoted in sermon eleventh of sermons on 
Public Worship, and of the demands for steadfastness in them. How 
should I have deserved your pity and your reproach had I, in order to 
gain your favor, turned aside from them ! How must I have lost all 
hope of being a true disciple and minister of my Lord, if I had acted 
contrary to principles deeply fixed in my own mind, and long estab- 
lished, tried and tried again in circumstances of difficulty, and becom- 
ing at every trial more clear and more firm So plain are they to 

my own mind, so evidently scriptural, so belonging to the fulness and 
the glory of the gospel, that, if I were to receive a more abundant unc- 
tion from on high, and come more fully and truly to love the Lord with 
all my might, rnind, and strength, and my neighbor as myself, I must 
suppose that I should only be more steadfast and unshaken in my prin- 
ciples and my course. With these views, and under the solemnities 
of this visitation of Providence, so suited to make the minister as well 
as the church and the people try his thoughts and ways, it is right that 
I should say — You cannot expect a change in my preaching and proce- 
dure. It would be the joy of my heart if, in pursuing the course which 
I believe true and right, I could have the approbation and co-operation 
of you all; but if I cannot, and you take the responsibility of breaking 
up the relation in authorized ways, I shall make no complaint, but 
shall embrace the brief opportunity which may remain to carry out my 
principles among you for your benefit— to fill oilt what may prove my 

last opportunity with you as a Christian pastor But this may be 

done on your part as well as mine without complaint. You will not 
complain of me, that I have tried to be a consistent Christian and min- 
ister, according to my avowed principles when I came among you. I 
shall not complain of you, if, after the earnest labors of many years, 
you differ from me, and take the measures for our separation on which 

we agreed when we began I am not unmindful of the tendency 

of things to this result ; nor shall I wonder or regret if it be hastened 



85 

by the course on another matter connected therewith, to which I have 
advised as most just and Christian. 

With regard to principles, as they have appeared in my preaching 
and procedure, I have the fullest assurance that they will at length pre- 
vail among you, and every where else — that they must, in order to the 
fulfilment of the prayer, '* Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on 
earth as it is in heaven." It has been my hope that I should see them 
prevail here — not in the failure of all revivals of religion, but in the re- 
vival of rdigion, such as might be expected under the deep conviction 
of the EVER-PRESENT SpiRiT — of the abiding opportunity upon all the 
paths of life, and of the advantage of permanent ordinances and ar- 
rangements for human life In present circumstances, it seems 

likely that this hope will be cut off, unless even now, with this visita- 
tion to pastor and flock, this long sought blessing might be found sud- 
denly among us, "prepared as the morning, and as the latter and the 
former rain upon the earth ;" unless even now I might be welcom- 
ed among you, not proposing less, but perhaps more, than your 
own hearts have heretofore dared to demand — more steadfastness in 
the declared disciple, and more rapid and abiding changes among the 
people. 

But should it be otherwise, and you should take the responsibility of 
bringing my well-meant labors to a close, I shall cease my office, with- 
out complaint at any regular and authorized discharge, but in the hope 
and belief ihat the time will come, must come, when my principles will 
prevail on this spot, where I have endeavored to extend and establish 
them — when Sermons for Children, Sermons from the Fowls of the 
Air and the Lilies of the Field, and Sermons on Public Worship, shall 
prove seeds scattered among the labors of other men, of that glorious 
harvest which will yet wave here and over the world. I rejoice in the 
assurance that, absent or dead, I shall yet speak of principles and 
methods of the highest value and importance; that these works many 
of you " will not willingly let die;" and that they will be a witness be- 
tween me and you, of my ministry among you; not that I taught you 
to save yourselves by your own righteousness, but by the blood of 
Christ and the power of his Spirit ; not that 1 sought for your salvation 
in numbers few and far between, but of you all ; not that I sought for 
you a goodness as the morning cloud and early dew, that passeth away; 
but a blessing prepared as the morning which goeth forth, and as the 
former and latter rain upon the earth. 



November 24, 1843. 

At a church meeting called on November 24, the motion to omit the 
instructing clauses of September 8 being withdrawn, — 

Voted, That the vote of September 8 be reconsidered ; and that the 
request of the Trinitarian Church be referred to a mutual council, to 
examine the whole matter, according to their judgment; and, if they 
see good cause, then to dissolve the Trinitarian Church, and to incor- 
porate its members with this body. 
12 



> From the church in Monament. 



Result of Council. 

At a meeting of an ecclesiastical council in the Baptist meeting- 
house, convened by letters missive from the Congregational church in 
Wareham, and the Trinitarian Church in Wareham, December 20, 
1843. 

Present, — 

Rev. Thomas Robbins, D. D., . > r« n. u u • hi .. ■ .. 
Tj„ T TO A \ \ } rrom the church m Mattapoisett. 

JKr. Lazarus Le Barron, delegate, ^ ^ 

Rev. Jonathan Bigelow, ) From the church in Rochester 

Br. George W. Haskell, delegate, 5 Centre. 

Rev. .Tames A. Roberts, ^ From the Trinitarian Church, New 

Rev. David Dyer, delegate, \ Bedford. 

Rev. Jonathan K'mg; } .u i. i, - r^ 

j\ r,^, XT J J 1 ^ ? From the church in Carver. 

Dea. 1 nomas Hammond, delegate, 

Rev. Hazael Lucas, 

Br. Benjamin Bourne, delegate. 

Rev. Leander Cobb, ) ^ ^, , u • o- • 

rk c?* u TV 1 J 1 / J^ ^om the church m Sippican. 

Dea. fetephen Delano, delegate, ) ^^ 

T>^ * T* u' XT "' J 1 4. I From the church in North Falmouth. 
Dea. Joshua Nye, delegate, j 

The council proceeded to organize by the choice of Rev. Thomas 
Robbins, D. D., as moderator, and Rev. C. C. Beaman, as scribe. 

Prayer was offered by the moderator. The letter missive was read, 
as follows. (See vote November 24.) 

The council proceeded to hear the statements of the respective par- 
ties, and made various inquiries concerning the views of each. From 
these statements, the council were -very happy to find an apparent 
preparation in the members of the Trinitarian Church, and in the pas- 
tor and members of the Congregational Church, for harmonious and 
Christian union. In connection with these statements, the letter of 
application made by the Trinitarian Church to the Congregational 
Church was read, and extracts from the records of the Congregational 
Church. A statement was made by Silvanus Bourne, Esq., in behalf 
of the Trinitarian Church, exhibiting their views in reference to the 
proposed connection. Similar declarations were made by Rev. Mr. 
Nott, in behalf of the church of which he is pastor. Various inquiries 
were made of the respective parties, to which satisfactory answers 
were given. 

In view of the subject thus presented to the council, at their sugges- 
tion, the following agreement was entered into by the respective par- 
ties, namely, that all past grievances are considered as settled, and 
that any future grievances are to be issued according to covenant obli- 
gations. 

After which the council, in consideration of their high responsibili- 
ties to the great Head of the church, passed the following votes: 

Voted, That the Trinitarian Church in Wareham be and is hereby 
dissolved. 

Voted, That the members of the said Trinitarian Church be incor- 



87 

porated with the Congregational Church, possessing all the rights and 
privileges of the existing Congregational Church. 

The council now commend, with great affection and thanksgiving 
to God, this ancient church to his merciful care and holy keeping, be- 
seeching him to build them up in the order and purity of the gospel of 
Christ, and increase them as a flock, and make this Christian union 
the means of great and lasting blessings. 

And the council earnestly enjoin upon this united church to love 
one another, and seek the means which make for peace, praying that 
the blessings of divine grace may rest upon them and their pasttir, and 
prepare each and all of them to meet their Lord at his coming with 
exceeding joy. 

On motion, — 

Resolved, That religious services be held in this house this evening, 
and that, in connection with the reading of this result, the Rev. Dr. 
Robbins offer a prayer and the Rev, Messrs. Dyer and Beaman re- 
spectively address the people. 

Passed in council. Attest, 

Thomas Robbins, Moderator. 
C. C. Bearian, Scribe. 

Pastor's Views, laid before Council, December 20, 1843. 

The views of the pastor will be seen in the set of resolutions which he 
suggested to the church on their first meeting to consider the request 
of the Trinitarian Church, September S, 1843, which he here lays be- 
fore council.* Those resolutions were discussed, and at length gave 
place to a resolution referring the matter to a mutual council. 

In order to the distinct understanding which is most important, 
the pastor will now state his views, and as will be seen in agreement 
with these resolutions. 

In the pastor's opinion, a re-union is most desirable. So undesira- 
ble was the separation, in his view, that he accompanied each several 
letter of dismission with an urgent protest, and sent to the organizing 
council an urgent request that they would do all in their power to pre- 
vent it.t It is now his like urgent request to this council that they will 
do all they can to secure a re-union. He feels more deeply than he 
can express the importance of re-union. 

At the same time, the pastor desires a re-union only on right princi- 
ples. The right principles in the case are required in the paper al- 
ready read : he chooses, if possible, to state them yet more distinctly. 

1. Whereas these members did, previously to their dismission, with- 
draw from the parish, from public worship, and the Lord's supper, on 
account of certain grievances, thereby breaking covenant obligations; 
and whereas, since their separation, they have lived out of fellowship 
with us in the word and ordinances, no proper re-union can be formed 
without an acknowledgment, on their part, of their error in these re- 
spects, and the definite understanding that, should new grievances 
arise, they are to be issued only in regular and authorized measures ^ 

* See ante, p. 75. 
t See pp. 47 and 60. 



88 

that is, by such applications to the parish, the church, and the 
churches as are warranted by Congregational usage and special 
agreement. 

2. On the supposition that this council shall acknowledge, as the 
basis of their own proceeding, the decision of the council of 1840, then, 
on Congregational and Christian principles, if their application for re- 
union be granted, it must be on the understanding, — That the original 
grievance with the preaching and procedure of the pastor is considered 
as settled by the agreement of two councils, and their return accord- 
ing to that agreement; or, expressing these conditions more briefly, 
this council -that is, if they agree with that of 1840 — will, I hope, 
require, — That the members of the Trinitarian Church be received on 
the understanding that all 'past grievances are considered as settled, and 
that any future grievances are to he issued according to covenant obli- 
gations ;* that is, by regular appeals to the parisl), the church, and the 
churches, according to Congregational usage and special agreements, 
and not by withdrawal from the support or the participation of the 
word and ordinances. This understanding being required, the Con- 
gregational Church may be required to receive them now, or if, after 
further consideration, they should renew their request. 

I am thus explicit, in the desire to secure union on the only prin- 
ciples of union. These principles omitted, and it is not union that we 
form. Union cannot be made by the very principles of disunion. 
Covenant obligations cannot be at the same time taken and refused. 
A church cannot be bound together by a rope of sand ; nor can a 
grievance be at the same time settled and unsettled. 

This understanding is the more necessary in view of the fact that, 
when a council, virtually mutual, allowed separation for the sake of 
peace, they in receiving it did not leave us at peace ; and, now, should 
they come back under the decision of a council actually mutual, 
it should, if the council so intend, render impossible all church action 
on old grievances. 

These just views do not depend upon the particular grievance 
which led to this separation. Had it been any thing else .... the 
bass-viol, for instance ; — had the same breaches of covenant taken 
place ; the same decision of council, that there were no good and 
sufficient reasons ; the same dismission, for the sake of peace ; the 
same living out of fellowship for three years ; — the same request to 
return, and the same reference of the whole matter to a mutual coun- 
cil, — then, there would be required the same acknowledgment that the 
original grievance was settled, and that covenant obligations hereafter 
were to be thus and thus understood. 

Wareham, February 4, 1844. 

Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. : Dear Sir, — At a meeting of church mem- 
bers held last Friday it was voted, unanimously, that Mr. Nott be re- 
quested to notify a church meeting of male members, to act on impor- 
tant business ; and that Silvanus Bourne be appointed to hand in the 
request. 

* Compare result of council Decembei' 20, 1843, and pastor's paper, August 30, 1844. 



89 

Reply. 

Mr Nott requests Mr. Bourne to specify distinctly the business to be 
brought before the meeting, and tfien he will most readily comply with 
the request. 

Reply. 

Dear Sir, — I do not feel at liberty to alter the notice which the 
church voted without consulting them. As I can have no opportunity 
of consulting them, I wish you to give the notice. 

S. Bourne. 

February 12. 

The pastor not having given the notice, Mr. B. requested him, in 
behalf of the meeting of church members, to give the notice next Sab- 
bath for a meeting " to consider what will promote the prosperity of 
the church." 

Sabbath, February 18. — Pastor's Communication. 

I have felt myself bound to give the general notice which I have 
read you, namely, " To consider what will promote the prosperity of 
the church," though it is not what I expected, as defining the impor- 
tant business on which the church were by the formal notice required 

to act In the absence, then, of any definite direction, I have 

taken pains, since receiving this notice on Monday last, and, influ- 
enced by reports which had reached me, to inquire into the business 
likely to come before us, which I shall now state publicly, in order 
to induce the church generally to attend, and to prepare them for it. 
From good sources of information, then, I learn that the meeting of 
church members in which this call originated, on February 9, was an 
adjourned meeting from February 2, and that the question before the 
original meeting was, " whether it was best for Mr. Nott to continue 
here as the minister of this church and people;" and that this ques- 
tion being continued at the adjourned meeting, resulted in the request 
for a '* church meeting to act on important business." 

As, then, it has been thought advisable to introduce this subject, 
which was laid aside with so much confidence and hope by the coun- 
cil of December 20, not yet quite two months ago, I think it proper 
and important to read the result of that council, which, in the renewal 
of this question, is entitled to a public rehearing, and requires the 
especial attention of the church, as it must be a guiding paper in 
whatever proceedings may be taken on this business (See p. 86.) 

As I shall propose, before I close, to bring the parish and church to 
a decided issue, I shall now read before the whole people my delibe- 
rate and careful declaration made on Fast-day, 26th October last. (See 
p. 85.) 

I have further to state, deliberately and solemnly, that this submis- 
sion without complaint to a dismission according to our original con- 
tract, is all the condescension, on my part, which this church or par- 
ish is entitled to ask or expect. I say this in view of the desire I un- 
derstand to have been expressed at the meeting of church members, 
" that Mr. Nott would peaceably resign." Be assured that, whatever 



90 

I do, I intend shall be done peaceably, in accordance with the un- 
sought testimony volunteered before the council of December 20, " that 
Mr. Nott was friendly to every body and every body friendly to him, so 
that it was not known that he had an enemy in town." In avowing, 
as I now do, my determination to sustain my ground among you until 
I am removed according to the terms of contract, or on charges regu- 
larly issued before the chtjrches, there is no departure from the char- 
acter thus awarded me. Neither my character as a peaceful man, or 
as a peacemaker among yourselves, requires resignation at my hands. 
A kind-tempered and Christian firmness at one's post is the best 
method of peacemaking — will make the most lasting peace. God grant 
that, by such firmness, I may prove such a peacemaker among you ! 

At any rate, peace may be too dear bought; and I shall not buy it, 
either for you or me, by such a quiet resignation and dismission, as 
shall give color to the complaints against my preaching and procedure 
which were laid before the council of 1840, and which have been 
continued since, notwithstanding its decision, and which remain, even 

after the council of 1843 / will stand before the churches on the 

merits of the case, claiming the character of a true and faithful minis- 
ter among you, with every hope of being owned and blessed, if you 
will but receive me according to your obligation in the Lord. 

Much more will I do this after the avowal before the churches on 
the 20th December, that I am friendly to every man, and every man 
friendly to me ; when, by a voluntary resignation, I must be under- 
stood as acknowledging that there are sufficient causes of separation, 
notwithstanding the mutual kindness in which ive have lived for four- 
teen years ! Do you think that I will quietly withdraw, leaving it to 
be said, " Mr. Nott was a good-tempered and well-behaved man, en- 
tirely unobjectionable in character and conduct, and there was no fault 
to be found in him but this ! 1 ! — He icas unsound and unfaithful as a 
minister ! ! he preached Unitarian sermons ! ! and Universalist ser- 
mons ! ! he did not preach repentance, or a change of heart ! ! " I 
came among you at forty years of age, with a fair name as a sound and 
faithful minister; and do you think I will quietly withdraw myself at 
fifty-five under such charges — under the renewed and continued 
charges of 1840, still busily circulated in 1844 — instead of requiring 
these charges to be laid J?efore the churches, and examined to the very 
bottom, as the ground of my dismission t Do you think that, having 
brought with me the confidence of one of the most orthodox Christian 
bodies of the land, and a settled and established character, I will flee 
before these unceasing charges in Wareham, and declare myself un- 
worthy of the Christian ministry any where ? '* A good name is rather 
to be chosen than great riches." There is not wealth enough in Ware- 
ham to purchase a resignation which might be interpreted as an ac- 
knowledgment of the justice of the complaints against my soundness 
and faithfulness as a Christian minister. 

Again, I will not thus trifle with the churches. What ! resign my 
charge within two months after the churches, in solemn council con- 
vened, have left us, pastor and church, ** with all apparent preparation, 
as they declare, for harmonious and Christian union 1 " — after they 
have united the two churches on the express condition that " all past 
grievances are considered as settled ?" Almost before the ink is dry 



91 

with which they wrote their result; while yet " their thanksgiving to 
God" for our happy re-union is sounding in our ears, do you think I 
will resign, and call all the churches around to stand amazed at the 
farce we played when they last met us in Wareham ? Do you think I 
will make myself and you a reproach and by-word amongst all our 
neighbors ? 

But there is one more view belonging to my particular character 
and history — to a name which, from the relations I have sustained, 
must, of necessity, go down to all time. It is, indeed, but little that I 
have done in the great work of spreading the gospel among the hea- 
then, and yet I have seemed to hear for myself the words, *' Thou didst 
well that it was in thine heart ;" and I have loved to think that I have 
some share in the great results from the small beginnings in which 

Divine Providence gave me an important and responsible part 

This at least is certain — that the name of Samuel Nott, Jr., must, o^ 
necessity, go down through all time as one of the few who were the 
humble instruments in leading forth the American churches to publish 
the gospel, in all its fullness and freeness, to mankind, and who, before 
the rulers of the pagan world, stood forth firmly for his Lord in word 
and deed — in documents which will never die, and must have place in 

the history of American missions to the end of time And do you 

think, after the charges of 1840, continued unworthily after the coun- 
cil of 1843, that, by a voluntary resignation, I will declare myself a 
traitor to the cause of the gospel before all nations, and send down 
voluntarily a traitor's name to all generations? Do you think I will 
retreat before the charges of 1840, still upheld among you — to the cur- 
rent charges for substance like them, and of preaching Unitarian ser- 
mons, and Universalist sermons; of not preaching repentance and a 
change of heart, and of not seeking the rapid growth and spread of re- 
pentance and the new birth among the people, and thus give my own 
sanction to the heresy and dishonor which some of you have attempted 
to fix upon the name of one who claims boldly to stand before the pub- 
lic, and the world, and all ages, as a humble but consistent advocate 
for more than thirty years of the very doctrines and purposes which 
some among you persist in saying he disallows and discards? Do you 
think I will retreat before such charges, and allow it to go abroad over 
all the land — to the friends of my youth in Europe and in Asia — to the 
missionaries who are continuing the work which I began — and down 
five hundred years, into the very noonday of the millennium, that one 
of the pioneers in the effort made by the American churches to bring 
on that glorious day, Samuel Nott, Jr., turned traitor to his Master, 
and was obliged to retreat from the pastoral office, because he preached 
a false gospel to the few hundreds of Wareham ? because he was op- 
posed to the revival of religion ; because he did not seek the rapid 
growth and spread of repentance and a new heart in Wareham ? . . . . 

I know too well where I stand ; I have too carefully considered my 
ground ; I have too carefully marked every footstep of the past; am too 
well furnished with written and printed documents along my whole 
course among you, and feel too strong a confidence that my Master 
will bear me through safely, to think it necessary to retreat before the 
charges so marvellously held forth among you. *' Should such a man as 
I flee ? " Be assured, on the contrary, that I will be judged be- 



92 

fore the churches, on whatever complaints you may see cause to bring for- 
ward ; and that, instead of shunning, I will claim, the fullest examination 
and inquiry, in the confidence that I shall stand approved before them as 
a sound and faithful minister of Christ among i/ou; in good consisten- 
cy with my early career as a missionary to the heathen So far 

from the voluntary resignation referred to, even if the parish take the 
responsibility, as they have the right, of closing the relation, I will not 
even then allow the dismissing council to give me the letters of com- 
mendation which I will claim of them, without requiring them to exam- 
ine, from the beginning, my whole doctrine and service among you, in 
view of these astonishing charges. These things cannot and shall not 
be done in a corner. These charges and reproaches shall be sus- 
tained, or they shall fall before the churches, and shall not be settled 
by the persevering and determined cry of few or many of the inhab- 
itants of Wareham. 

I have now, finally, to call this people to bring the question of my 
continuance with them as their pastor to an immediate and decided 
issue. It shall not be my fault if you have to pursue another course of 
church members' meetings and church meetings and parish meetings, 
on a question which may be settled without delay. 

I call, then, first upon this parish. If this community will not sus- 
tain me in my course as a Christian minister, then let them avail 
themselves, without delay, of their right by contract, and give me 
manfully and decidedly, an absolute and final six monlhs' notice. Let 
them do one thing or the other. If you will not decidedly sustain me, 
then I pray you decidedly refuse to do so ; and if such be your delib- 
erate mind, the sooner you do it the better. On the other hand, if 
you verily believe that you ought to sustain me, as a true and faithful 
minister, then stand by me without wavering, in so decided a manner 
as will prevent the progress of another ten years of agitation. Do one 
thing or the other. 

I call next upon the church, in the exercise of their proper powers, 

to do their part to bring this matter to an issue But, in making 

this call, I must state my views of what those powers are, and how 
they may be exercised with effect. 

1. The power of this church, in regard to the dismission of minis- 
ters, is limited, in view of their connection with the parish, by the ar- 
ticles of agreement referred to in the pew deeds, entered into on the 
18th February, 1829, whatever may be their tenor. I have never seen 
them. (Seep. 21.) 

2. The power of this church in regard to the dismission of the min- 
ister is further governed and limited by the rules and customs of the 
Congregational churches of New England, and by the laws and judi- 
cial decisions of this commonwealth; that is, in order to dismiss their 
minister, this church must show cause, before a mutual council — before 
such a council as, by mutual agreement, established the relation of 
pastor and church. No vote of this church, by whatever majority, nay, 
not even a unanimous vote, can dismiss the minister, or exclude him 
from the pulpit. No vote can do more than to require the minister to 
join in a mutual council, before which the church must show cause, 
and by whose judgment and decision they must abide. 

3. If the question were to occur on referring to such a council, the 



93 

preaching and procedure of the pastor, as a just cause of dismission, 
except only new modes of preaching and procedure adopted since 
December 20, not two months ago; then no member of the late 
Trinitarian Church is entitled to vote thereon. This declaration is 
required of me, I do not say whether by one or more cases, as is also 
the further declaration, that, as pastor and moderator of this churchy so 
long as I may hold that office, though it be but a six months longer, I 
am bound to this church, to the churches who re-united us the other 
day, to all the churches, to the great principles of church order, and, 
of course, to the Head of the church, to hold them strictly^ in all their 
proceedings, to the terms of agreement on which they were admitted, and 
I shall so hold them strictly , subject only to the decision of the churches 
in council assembled, on any appeal from my decision. I will not meet 
the late members of the Trinitarian Church on the question of their 
past grievances at all, either before the church, or in private. Those 
grievances are settled. Those charges have been solemnly and pub- 
licly withdrawn, in actions that speak louder than words — in their 
public agreement to the terms required by the council, and in the sim- 
ple fact of their claiming to be members on those terms. For the 
honor of religion — of that religion which is true, and honest, and just, 
and of good report — the only religion that we can wish to be revived 
among us; for the honor of this ancient church of Wareham, so lately 
commended by the assembled churches to God's holy care and keep- 
ing ; for the honor of my brethren, whose character must not — must 
not be sent down to posterity under this foul stain, — I pray the God of 
truth and righteousness that whatever occasion may have been given 
for these declarations, may be immediately withdrawn. 

Having now explained the powers of this church, in regard to the 
dismission of the minister, I now call upon them, as a church, if they 
think they have good cause to require me to answer before the churches 
to the charge of such preaching and procedure as forfeits my claim, to 
continue to be their minister, taking, if they will, the charges of 1840, 
once indirectly settled by the churches, or, if they choose, the current 
phrases — that the minister preaches Unitarian sermons and Universalist 
sermons ; that he does not preach repentance and a change of heart, 
and is opposed to revivals. 

Nay, in order that there may be no hin<lrance in consequence of any 
difficulty in getting a majority of the church, who are entitled to vote 
in this matter, according to the above decision of the pastor, I demand 
of any individual or individuals who make these charges in private — 
of one or many — of one only, if there be but one — who will take this 
solemn responsibility — I demand of that one, in the name of the great 
Head of the church, whose minister he has reproached, to unite with me 
in calling a mutual council on Wednesday, March 13, or whatever other 
day he may choose, whose duty it shall be to examine and decide 
whether, in my preaching and procedure, in my doctrine and practice, 
I have forfeited my right and title to be the pastor of this church and 
people ; and by their decision with reference to this relation I agree to 
abide, as I must if the council had been called by the church with 
myself I reserve only that great principle that, in this matter, / will 
be judged by my peers. As a minister regularly settled by a council 
of -the churches, I will be judged by churches who have pastors thas 
13 



94 

regularly settled ; and that the question shall not be of ejpedicncy at 
all, that question being sufficiently provided for from the first in the 
original contract. 

And now, if there cannot be found one man among those who have 
given currency to the charges referred to, who will thus meet me be- 
fore the churches without any needless delay, then I demand of all 
such persons, before God, angels, and men, that they forever after 
hold their peace; that they no longer preach far me the Unitarianism 
and Universalism which I do not preach ; that they no longer vTsspreach 
the repentance, and the change of heart, and the true, pure, and last- 
ing revival which I do preach. It is time, after ten or twelve years, 
th'dt g7^oundless charges should cease — charges which my public appeal, 
May 4, 1834, answered and denied — charges contradicted by a thou- 
sand printed pages, which every one may read, and by my whole life 
and character — charges contradicted by the unanimous voice of all who 
knew me in the wide world itself, save only the few or the many in 
this town of Wareham. Are not ten years long enough for Wareham 
to persist against my own words and deeds — against the publications 
for a course of twenty years — and against the unanimous voice of the 
whole Christian world, wherever 1 or my works are known ? And I 
ask whether, by bearing all this reproach, so as to deserve to have it 
said that I have been still " friendly to every man," I am not entitled 
to spend the short remainder of my life among you without hearing 
these absurd charges ever lisped again ? Whether you will give me 
this comfort or not, beware yourselves, if you continue these reproaches, 
lest you be found doing the work ascribed by our Lord to the prince of 
all evil himself — that of snatching away the good word which, by his 
grace, I, as a faithful minister, have endeavored to sow among you. 

And now perhaps you will say, in the phrase discussed, as I am told, at 
the late meetings of church members — " Now, at least, Mr. Nott's use- 
fulness in Wareham is over." Say, rather, if he be a false man and a false 
minister, that his usefulness is over every where! nay, that it is not yet 
begun any where! ! But suppose, on the other hand, that he is a true 
man and true minister — suppose him this day to be asserting, kindly and 
firmly, what is true and right-«-suppose him to be making this last stand 
among you, intending to stand or fall as a true and Christian man at the 
post of duty — suppose that, having attempted in his youth to aid the 
preaching of the gospel to every creature in the wide world, he has at- 
tempted, as an honest and true man, to preach the gospel to every creature 
in Wareham — and suppose that he shall find grace from the Master to 
be more and more true and faithful in the time to come, and that, in this 
trial to-day, he is still " friendly to every man" — then say that, in this 
firm stand to-day, which is intended to test and decide the question of 
his abode among you, in this honesty and truth, he is at the highest 
point of his usefulness, and that from this moment may go forth — ^what 
he has again and again called for — "success to God's word, more ex- 
tensive, more reaching to every house and to every heart — more pure, 
and deep, and lasting, and growing, than either we or our fathers have 
known." God grant that it may prove so. Pray for me, and with me, 
that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified among 
us ; that the harvest of fourteen years' seed-sowing may this year be 
reaped. 



95 

February 23, 1844. 

The church being met, after much conference, the pastor read a 
paper on the question, — What will prouiote the prosperity of the 
church ? — from which the following is taken : 

5. Give your influence in favor of the word preached ; that is, so 
far as the preaching of your pastor is the word of God, give 
your influence in his favor. Call the people to hear it, according to 
that of Isaiah, — " Come and let us go op to the house of the Lord ; 
for [by his minister] he will teach of his ways." And when you go 
away, after the hearing of the word, do what you can — not to praise 
the -minister — but to recommend and fix the word which he has 
spoken. 

1 will not make long complaint, and yet I might say that I have been 
aggrieved, and that even since December 20. Once at least, if I am 
rightly informed .... a certain man, not a church member, whose 
name has been told me, said to this effect: "1 heard Mr. Nott on 
Sabbath morning with the strictest attention, when he was speaking of 
the law which a man is to himself, and how the great truths of God's 
word are thus made manifest to every man's conscience in the sight of 
God; how every man knows the right he refuses to do, and the wrong 
which he does ; and how there is nothing but God's fear and favor that 
can satisfy man. It seemed to me," said the man, " to be all true ; but, 
as soon as I got out of the door, I was met by a church member, who 
said to me, " Mr. Nott has not said one word of truth this morning." 

I have not heard the name of that church member, and I am glad I 
have not ; but I tell the story as another church member told it to me, 
to give point to the rule I am now giving for promoting the prosperity 
of the church, — " Give your influence in favor of the word preached 
by your minister," and beware of yourselves taking away any of the 
good seed he may have sown among the people. Do not charge me, 
above all, because you do not see the harvest, if you yourselves snatch 
away the seed I sow 

6. Attend and aid the meetings which occur The preparatory 

lecture should be considered as requiring the attendance of all church 
members, and as especially fitted to their improvement. The monthly 
concert for prayer for the whole world is greatly fitted to promote the 
growth of religion among any church and people. While we pray for the 
whole world, what a lesson and motive turns back upon ourselves 
and the whole population around us ! It has been my custom to ap- 
ply myself, in the fall, winter, and spring, to meetings in different parts 
of the town, hoping in that way to reach with Christian instruction and 
urgency the whole population — what an advantage I must gain, in 
proportion to the attendance and co-operation of church members. 

Here, too, I may say — not to go back farther — I am aggrieved ; and 
that, too, since the 20th December last. After our preparation as the 
council expressed, for '* Christian and harmonious union," with the ut- 
most good feeling towards you all, and with an earnest desire that our 
re-union might be the means of a great and glorious revival, I appoint- 
ed a meeting for new-year's day evening, the monthly concert, indeed, 
but a meeting in the circumstances of special advantage to ourselves 
and the people — and what a blank I saw ! The expected church 



members were not there. My attempts since have been equally un- 
successful — have not found that " Christian and harmonious union " 
in their aid that I expected. 1 will only say, Try, brethren — and per- 
haps yoQ will get good and do good. 

7. Beware lest you hinder the prosperity of the church by thinking 
or saying hastily, and without reason, that it is going fast to decay — 
that it is likely even to run out. I give this rule because I have found 
such expressions somewhat current, until, in some cases, they have 
come to be believed. If such things be said till they are thought to 
be true, it will be no wonder if the prosperity of the church be 
injured. 

In giving this rule, I think it quite worth our while to look at the 
question fairly and carefully, whether this church is going to decay — 
whether, on a careful and candid review and examination, we shall 
find any signs that it is likely to run out and come to nought. What, 
then, think you, are the grounds for such expressions and fears? Are 
there any facts which should give occasion to such expressions and 

fears 1 . . . . No wonder if there were There have been great 

hindrances in the way of its increase. No wonder even if the increase 
should not have made up the decrease : no wonder if there were much 

decrease from the prosperous days under your former pastor But 

let us look at the facts In August, 1829, at my settlement, there 

were thirty-seven resident male members There are this day 

thirti/si7. resident male members. As to male members, you are 
where you were fourteen years ago, within one. in August, 1829, 
there were ninety-two resident female members. There are this day 
ninety-three resident female members — one more than in 1829, or both 
males and females equal. The church is not advancing as we could 
wish; but surely it is not decaying — it is not running out. 

And this, I trust, is not the best view we may take of our clase. I 
have heard that it has been said among you that there are as many as 
thirty persons out of the church who are really fair candidates for ad- 
mission, and very likely would request to be admitted, if it were not for 
difficulties within the church itself. I am willing to extend the num- 
ber, and to say that I can easily reckon fifty persons whose general 
character, whose expressions of repentance and faith would make them 
fair candidates for sealing ordinances, and who lack only the expres- 
sion of their solemn sense of the duty and the privilege of coming to 
those ordinances. With that additional evidence in their favor, I 
should gladly present them to you as candidates, and as witnesses, too, 
that the word of God has not been published in vain, and that the 
church visible, as well as the true church, has increased among you 
in fourteen years. 

Again, consider that all depends not on our sight and knowledge. 
There was a new man of prayer in Damascus — the very seed of early 
and boundless prosperity to the church — and yet Ananias and the dis- 
ciples for a time knew it not. There were seven thousand true men in 
Israel, while Elijah thought that he alone was left a witness for the true 
God. Seed may lie long buried in dust, and yet not deceive the hopes 
of the husbandman; nay, the seed that he left to die and spring up, 
while he went his way ; and seeds sown by other husbandmen may 
have sprung up and grown, while he slept, or was.^^lse\5^bere, and be- 



97 

fore he knew it, there may be the blade, and the ear, and the full corn 
in the ear; and, when he lifts up his eyes, he may see suddenly before 
him the fields white already to the harvest. Amongst ourselves, the 
harvest of fourteen years — of fifty years — of a hundred — may this year 
be reaped. Who are we, that we should raise the hue and cry that 
the church is decaying, and is likely to run out, when, for aught we 
know, if we will be prayerful and faithful, she may fourfold her 
graces and her numbers this very year ? Far better to pray and be 

faithful, than to complain and despond ! 

The aim at personal purity — for a clean heart and right spirit, and at 
proving and manifesting that purity by good works — to give heed 
to the true doctrine on the part of pastor and flock — the church 
striving to profit by the ministry set over them, praying for their min- 
ister, and adding their influence to his attempts — attendance upon the 
meetings which aim especially at the improvement of the church, and 
the increase of its numbers — and a careful avoiding of the cry, " The 
church is going to decay " — perhaps the observance of these rules may 
lead on " success more extensive, more reaching to every house and 
every heart, more pure, and deep, and lasting, and growing, than 
either we or our fathers have known." 

The pastor read, also, before the church, by request, the public 
communication of last Sabbath. 

Voted, That the church request the parish to give the pastor a six 
months' notice. Ayes, 15; nays, 10. 

On the name of Mr. David Bodfish being suggested, the moderator 
read as follows : 

The pastor has to inform the church that Mr. David Bodfish, one of 
the late members of the Trinitarian Church, having failed to walk with 
us, as pastor and church, in the word and ordinances, as required by 
the covenant into which he was re-admitted by vote of council, Decem- 
ber 20 ; and having further declared to the pastor that he had never 
intended, and does not now intend, to attend upon his ministry as pas- 
tor of this church ; tlie pastor hereby announces to this church that, 
until Mr. Bodfish withdraws this declaration, and complies with his 
covenant obligations, by attendance on the word and ordinances, ac- 
cording to his ability, he cannot be considered as a member of this 
church, or entitled to sit and act with it. 

Mr. Bodfish appealed to the church, whereupon the pastor refused 
to allow the appeal, and referred the question to a mutual council be- 
tween himself and Mr. Bodfish. 

March 1, 1844. 

The following protest was laid before the meeting, .... signed by 
the pastor and sixteen brethren, the minority and the absent, Feb- 
ruary 23 : 

Protest, Representation, and Demand, March I. 

The undersigned, the pastor of this church, and the minority in the 
yote of Friday, February 23, 1844, being aggrieved by the vote of nine 



9a 

members, late of the Trinitarian Church, do hereby protest against 
that vote, for reasons manifest in the following representation and de- 
mand, namely : 

1. The undersigned represent that the members of the late Trinita- 
rian Church, having been long aggrieved with the preaching and pro- 
cedure of the pastor, as appears abundantly from our records, did re- 
quest a dismission, to be formed into a church by themselves ; and 
their request being referred to a council, February 26, 1840, that they 
laid their grievances before the council, in documents No. 1 and 2, 
and by word of mouth ; and that the council decided that their griev- 
ances were not sustained, and afforded no ground for their dismission ; 
but directed that, for the sake of peace, they should be dismissed, if 
they persisted in their request ; and that they were accordingly dis- 
missed. 

2. That, on their application to be received again, the application 
was referred to a mutual council, to examine the whole matter accord- 
ing to their judgment; and, if they see good cause, then to dissolve 
the Trinitarian Church, and incorporate its members with the original 
body ; that said mutual council was called, and being assembled on De- 
cember 20, did declare that they found " in the members of the Trini- 
tarian Church, and in the pastor and members of the Congregational 
Church, an apparent preparation for harmonious and Christian union;" 
did incorporate the members of the Trinitarian Church with the Con- 
gregational Church, on the agreement "that all past grievances are con- 
sidered as settled," and did earnestly enjoin upon the united church to 
love one another, to seek the means that make for peace, and did rec- 
ommend them to pray *' that the blessing of divine grace might rest on 
them and their pastor." 

3. That the examination of the whole matter, while in progress, was 
arrested by the above agreement, first suggested in one of two docu- 
ments laid before the council by the pastor, in explanation of his views, 
and recalled by them to the attention of the council, as a brief basis of 
union, on which there could be no misunderstanding, and such as to 
" render impossible all church action on old grievances." 

4. That, on Sabbath, January 28, in five weeks and four days from 
the result of council, the pastor did, by request of S. Bourne and others, 
appoint a meeting of church members, at which, on inquiry, he was 
told that his presence was not desired ; that, on the 2d February, fif- 
teen church members met, among whom were four of the undersigned ; 
and that we know, or are well informed, that the question was in rela- 
tion to the pastor, with reference to past grievances, or grievances in 
his uniform course of preaching and procedure; and that this meeting 
was adjourned to February 9, when one only of the undersigned was 
present, but we are all well informed that the same subject was before 
the meeting. 

^5. That, on Sabbath, February 11, by unanimous vote of that meet- 
ing, passed after the one of our own number had left, Mr. Nott was re- 
quested to call a church meeting for the Friday following, " to act on 
important business;" that the pastor, not receiving, at his request, any 
information as to the specific business to be acted on, did not comply 
with the request; but that, receiving, on the Monday following, from 
the applicants the substituted clause, he did appoint, on the Sabbath 



99 

following, a church meeting for February 23, "to consider what will 
promote the prosperity of the church;" and that, after having publicly 
repeated an extract from his sermon on Fast-day, October 2(5, 1843, he 
extended the notice, by request of S. Bourne, " to take any measures 
with reference to the communication then publicly made." 

6. That the church, being met on Friday, February 23, as we un- 
derstood, the past grievances with the preaching and procedure of the 
pastor were renewed before the meeting, and tiie statement made that 
the settlement of past grievances before the council December 20, had 
no relation at all to the grievances with the pastor, and that all were at 
liberty to act upon them. 

7. That the old grievances in detail, and the claim that the agree- 
ment of December 20 had no reference to the pastor being before the 
meeting, nine members, late of the Trinitarian Church, did vote, in 
just two months and two days from the decision of council, "to request 
the parish to give the pastor a six months' notice ;" and that thereby 
that vote was carried, by a majority of one-third. 

8. That, reckoning only the votes of the members previous to the 
re-union, the majority would have been more than one-third against 
that vote; and that, had not two, as we suppose, agreeing with us, 
previously left the meeting the majority in the negative would have 
been twelve to six; while we have every reason to believe, if the whole 
church had been together, the majority would have been seventeen to 
six; and while we think more than seven eighths of the female mem- 
bers are aggrieved by that vote. 

9. That this vote, in these circumstances, is a grievance requiring 
the intervention of the churches, who shall judge between us, whether 
the vote of these nine members be or be not in utter contradiction to 
the agreement before the council, December 20, to the harmonious 
and Christian union for which they found us apparently prepared, as 
two churches and pastor, and to the recorded prayer, that the blessings 
of divine grace might rest upon ** the united church and their pastor," 
and of course to the ** things that are true, and honest, and just, and 
lovely, and pure, and of good report," without which there can be no 
true prosperity to the church — a contradiction which, if it exist, is so 
much the more grievous, on the very threshold of our solemn and sa- 
cred agreement before the churches, in the very morning of our Chris- 
tian and harmonious union, and even compels the question whether 
their whole design and intention, in seeking re-union, was not to inter- 
rupt the peace for the sake of which the council of 1840 permitted 
them to withdraw, and to attempt and accomplish the removal of the 
pastor; — and, lastly, — 

10. That being aggrieved by the whole course of proceedings, 
and by the vote of February 23, having parted with these breth- 
ren, and received them again, in obedience to the decisions of the 
churches, we have no resort but to return to the churches with our 
grievance, that they may judge between us. 

We therefore, the pastor of this church and the minority in the vote 
of February 23, 1844, do demand of these nine brethren, or any of 
them, to meet us before a mutual council, whose duty it shall be, — 

1. To examine the result of council, December 20, 1843, in con- 
nection with the result of council, February 20, 1840, and the docu- 



100 

merits laid before the council by the pastor, December 20, and the 
whole record of the Congregational Church, and our protest and de- 
mand, together with whatever testimony they may think needful, or the 
parties bring forward, and then to decide and declare whether the 
grievances, with the preaching and procedure of the pastor, are the 
grievances regarded in the agreement before the council, December 
20, 1843; and, if not, then to decide and declare for the future guid- 
ance of this church, what are the past grievances which are to be con- 
sidered as settled by that agreement. 

2. To require these members, each and severally, to show cause, if 
any they have, why their vote of February 23, 1844, is not to be con- 
sidered in violation of their agreement before the council of December 
20, and in forfeiture of their claim to the rights and privileges of this 
church, and to judge thereon for the guidance of this church. 

The protest having been read, Mr. S. Bourne stated that, on con- 
sulting the parish officers with reference to the vote of February 23, it 
was found necessary to pass another vote, and moved the following, 
which was carried, — ayes, 16; nays, 10. 

Voted, That this church concur with the vote of the First Parish in 
Wareham passed March 7, 1842 ; and also with the notice which the 
pastor. Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., presented the parish committee, April 
20, 1843; and that a committee of three persons be appointed to unite 
with the several parties in calling a council for the dismission of said 
pastor, and that they be authorized to call an ex parte council, if a 
mutual council be denied. 

Answer. 

Warehana, March 2, 1844. 

Dear Brethren, — Having duly considered the vote passed in church 
meeting yesterday, I find nothing therein requiring or allowing me to 
unite in a council for my dismission ; and 1 hereby refuse to unite in 
such council as proposed in that vote. Praying that the ** several par- 
ties " may be directed aright, 

I am your affectionate pastor, &c. 

March 6, 1844. 

After a considerable time spent in conference, the " nine brethren " 
presented to the minority the following proposal, namely : 

That the council called December 20, 1843, be recalled, to explain 
their own acts, and also to hear and examine such matters as either the 
pastor or churchy or one or more of the church members may wish to 
lay before them, and give such advice as they may deem wholesome 
for our future guidance. 

Answer, March 9. 

The pastor and the minority in the vote of February 23 decline the 
proposal of the nine brethren, made them March 6, and adhere strictly 
to their original representation and demand, March 1. 



101 

1. Because the only purposes for which a council is proposed or de- 
sired, on our part, are those set forth explicitly and exactly, according 
to our views of the necessity of the case. In our view, those purposes 
were required by the vote of February 2:^ : they were doubly required by 
the vote of xMarch 1 ; and, lastly, the full and decided expressions at 
the meeting, March 6, have threefolded the necessity of the original 
demand. 

2. Because a mutual council, from the nature of the case, leaves the 
parties unitinor, the uncontrolled and free choice of their several por- 
tions. Under this freedom, we have named our choice, and it contains 
three out of the seven churches present at the council of December 20. 
It depends upon the nine brethren themselves whether their free and 
uncontrolled choice shall embrace all the remaining members of the 
former council or not. 

An early, direct, and final answer to our demand we earnestly re- 
quest. 

In behalf of the church, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 

Warrant for Parish Meeting, March 9, 1844. 

To William Bates, Esq., Justice of the Peace for the County of 
Plymouth : Sir, — We, the subscribers, legal voters of the First Par- 
ish in Wareham, hereby request you to issue a warrant to call a meet- 
ing of the qualified voters of said parish, as soon as you can legally do 
so, for the following purposes, to wit : 

1st. To choose such officers and to transact such business as par- 
ishes are by law authorized to choose and transact. 

2d. To agree upon the mode of notifying all future meetings of said 
parish. 

3d. To make a by-law prescribing the manner in which persons 
may become members of said parish. 

H. G. O. Ellis, Moses S. F. Tobey, 

Timothy Savery, Lewis Kinney, 

P. B. Howard, J. R. Sproat, 

J. F. MuRDOCK, Stephen Gibbs, 

Bradford Lincoln, S[Las T. Soule, 

Thomas Young, Ebenezer Crocker. 

Wareham, February 29, 1844. 



[L. S.] Plymouth, ss. 

To Moses S. F. Tohey, one of the legal voters making the above 

application. 

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are re- 
quired to notify and warn the legal voters of the First Congregational 
Parish in Wareham, to meet at the First Christian Baptist meeting- 
house in said town, on Saturday, the 9th day of March, instant, at one 
o'clock in the afternoon, then and there to act on the articles raen- 
14 



102 

tioned in the annexed application ; and you are hereby directed to 
serve this warrant by posting up an attested copy thereof, with a copy 
of the above application annexed thereto, on one of the outer doors of 
said Christian Baptist meeting-house (it being the place temporarily 
occupied by said First Congregational Parish in said Wareham for the 
purpose of religious worship) seven days at least before the time ap- 
pointed for said meeting. 

Hereof fail not, and make return of this warrant, with your doings 
thereon, to the said meeting, to myself, or any other justice of the 
peace of and for said county of Plymouth who may be present at the 
time and place herein appointed for the same. 

Given under my hand and seal, this first day of March, in the year 
one thousand eight hundred and forty-four. 

William Bates, Justice of the Peace, 

Wareham, March 16, 1844. 

Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., and athers of the minority of February 23d : 
Brethren, — After giving your last communication (without date) a 
prayerful consideration, we cannot conceive how there can be any 
better tribunal to explain the intentions of the council of December 20, 
1843, than they themselves; yet, as you refuse that, and seem not dis- 
posed to make any concession, we will further state that, since our re- 
union with the church, our motives have been none other than to promote 
the best interest of our blessed Redeemer's kingdom ; and, as it would 
seem, by voting upon the question you put to us, moved in the church 
without our previous knowledge or agency, some of our brethren feel 
aggrieved, we assure them we have intended no such thing, but only 
to answer conscientiously the question put to us; and, as evidence of 
it, we request you to call a church meeting next Friday, to reconsider 
the vote of February 23, 1844. 

We cannot say that, since December 20, 1843, we have been satisfied 
with your proceedings and preaching, as having the best tendency to 
Christianize the world, but were still looking for light. 

The vote had not been contemplated by us, and we believe would 
not have been moved by our friend, had not your friend named it 
and you penned it. But as many of our brethren whom we highly 
esteem are laboring under a wrong impression upon the subject, we 
think their minds would be relieved provided we could have the privi- 
lege of meeting them in church conference. 

We wish further to state that we are much aggrieved because our 
brother Bodfish is not permitted to vote in the church meetings, which, 
as he is in full communion, he has a right to do. 

We feel also aggrieved that we are not ourselves treated, at the 
meetings of the church, in all respects by the moderator as the law of 
love requires. While these grievances continue, our Christian cov- 
enant will be much impaired, and we must hope they will be re- 
dressed. 

Your brethren, &c., 

Jeremiah Bumpas, 
In behalf of the nine brethren. 



103 

March 17, 1844. 

Dear Brethren, — We reply to yours, yesterday received, as follows, 
in agreement with our reply to yours of March 6, — 

1. That the withdrawal of your vote of February 23 cannot remove 
the grievance complained of, since tliat grievance was renewed by 
your vote of March I, after a week's deliberation, and under additional 
aggravations, against which, at a proper time, we design to record our 
objections. 

2. That even the withdrawal of the second and deliberate vote of 
March I, cannot remove the grievance without the withdrawal of the 
claim which you have either expressed or allowed, as well as acted on, 
namely, that the agreement before council, December 20, 1843, did 
not regard your past grievances with the preaching and procedure of 
the pastor. Our grievances are at once, with your acts and your 
claim, both, in our judgment, in violation of your solemn agreement; 
and, earnestly as we desire union, it is only on a definite understand- 
ing and keeping of the agreement on which we were united. If the 
questions submitted to council can be settled between ourselves, we 
shall greatly rejoice ; but the time has come when they must be settled 
explicitly and exactly. As our grievance is with yourselves individu- 
ally, all that is required for our satisfaction with you all, or with any 
number of you, is your individual acknowledgment in substance as 
follows : 

We, the undersigned, hereby acknowledge that our votes of February 
23, and March I, were not in accordance with the agreement before 
council, December 20, 1843, on which we were re-admitted to the 
church, and that the claim that that agreement did not regard our 
past grievances with the preaching and procedure of the pastor, is 
groundless. 

Confining ourselves to the simple questions before us, we make no 
remarks upon the various matters contained in your letter. 

In behalf of all present, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 



Wareham, March 25, 1844. 

Dear Brethren, — We hereby inform you that, unless you agree to 
our demand for a mutual council by April 2, we shall understand that 
you refuse to do so, and shall proceed to call an ex parte council, to 
meet on Wesnesday, April 17, and act on the matters in question. . . . 
As our demand was made only two days before our last communion 
season, there was no time to bring the question to trial previous to that 
solemnity. It is manifestly improper that we should proceed to another 
Lord's supper with them unsettled. We have fixed upon the latest 
day which we think possible, and yet secure the attendance of the 
churches we may call. Praying that you and we may be directed 
aright, 

We remain, &c., 

Samuel Nott, Jr., in btlialf of all. 



104 

Wareliam, April 3, 1844. 

To Dea. J. B. and others: We hereby inform you that we have 
called an ex parte council, on our demand of March I, consisting of 
the churches named by us as our part of a mutual council, in our for- 
mer communications to you, to meet in the Congregational meeting- 
house on Wednesday, April 17, at 10, A. M. We give you again the 
offer of a mutual council, provided you shall invite an equal number, to 
meet with those we have called, and unite with them on our original 
demand. Hoping you will yet unite with us, and praying for the 
divine direction to us, 

Your affectionate pastor, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 

N. B. The form of letter missive is contained in the protest, adding 
the offer named above. 

Copy of the Letter Missive purporting to proceed upon the vote of 
March 1, and the Pastor's Refusal of a Mutual Council thereon. 

The Congregational Church in Wareham to the , sendeth 

greeting. 

Brethren in the Lord, — The contract upon which our pastor, Rev. 
Mr. Nott, was settled among us in the ministry having been dissolved, 
and the church also consenting that it is expedient that his pastoral 
relation should cease, and having requested him to join with them in 
convoking a mutual council for his dismission, and he having declined 
complying with that request, the church have concluded to convoke 
a council of neighbor churches, to advise on the subject; and they 
trust that you have that sympathy for us, in our present distracted 
condition, which will constrain you, as a neighbor church, to do what 
you can for our relief. 

We therefore request you, by your reverend pastor and delegate, to 
assemble with those of the other churches to which we have sent, at 
our house of public worship in Wareham, on Monday the 15th day of 
April present, at one o'clock, P. M., and, in ecclesiastical council 
assembled, to do and advise on the subject such things as shall seem 
right and fitting on the occasion. 

Yours in the Lord, 

— , ) Church 

, j Committee. 

Wareham, April 4, 1844. 



A copy of this letter missive, in blank, without any information of 
the churches called, was sent to the pastor on Monday, April 8. 

Protest against the Vote of March 1, 1844. 

Wareham, April 14, J 844. 

The undersigned, the pastor of the church and those voting in the 
minority on the vote of March 1, 1844, or absent from the meeting, 
hereby protest against that vote, omitting such reasons as apply to the 
vote of February 23 : 



I 



105 

1. Because it assumes that the contract between the pastor and the 
parish has been dissolved by means of the vote and notice concurred in, 
without giving any reason, notwithstanding the vote of the parish resum- 
ing, and the pastor's acceptance thereon, July 31, 1843, though the 
renewed contract has been acted on by both pastor and parish precisely 
as the similar resuming vote in 1837, and though the vote in church 
meeting, February 23, " to request the parish to give the pastor a six 
month's notice," did, just one week before, acknowledge the original 
coptract, in that respect, to be in full force. . . . 

2. Because such a vote, in such circumstances, contrary to the mu- 
tual understanding on which pastor and parish have been proceeding 
since July 31, without any communication thereon, precisely as they 
have since the like vote of 1837, and therefore binding in honor and 
conscience, according to its face, must be considered as passed on the 
supposition of some flaw or informality, which may render it legally 
invalid, and by which the renewed contract on which pastor and parish 
are proceeding may be set aside; and because this supposition, of 
taking advantage of a legal defect, if such advantage could be taken, is 
unrighteous and disgraceful, in contrariety, above all, to the principles 
of a church of Jesus Christ, and a foul blot upon the records of the 
church of Wareham, which we look upon with shame and with abhor- 

rence 

[Signed by pastor and sixteen brethren.] 

The Pastor's Protest before Council, April 15, 1844. 

[T. G. Coffin and Zechariah Eddy, Esqs., appeared as counsel for 
the plaintiffs] 

Mr. Moderator, — I hereby enter my solemn and deliberate protest 
against the sitting and action of this ecclesiastical council, convened 
by letters missive, purporting to be from the Congregational Church in 
Wareham, of which I am pastor, — 

1. Because no such council as is called by the letter missive has 
been authorized by this church, and no such mutual council has been 
offered and refused, preparatory to an ex parte council. The only ac- 
tion of this church touching the case is the vote of March 1, itself un- 
der question, as will be hereafter stated. Admitting that vote, for the 
present, to stand unquestioned; it gives no authority for the calling of 

this council The vote of March 1 is in the following words, 

namely : 

'• Voted, That this church concur with the vote of the First Parish 
in Wareham, passed March 7, 1842, and also with the notice which 
the pastor. Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., presented the parish committee, 
dated April 20, 1843, and that a committee of three persons be ap- 
pointed to unite with the several parties in calling a council for the 
dismission of said pastor, and that they be authorized to call an ex 
parte council, if a mutual council be denied." 

This is the only vote touching the case. Indeed, the church has 
taken no action on any subject since that vote. The simple and single 
purpose of the council provided for by the vote of March 1 is *' the 
dismission of the pastor." The offer to the pastor is simply and singly 
to unite in a council for his dismission ; and his refusal is simply and 



/ 



106 

singly, to unite in a council for his dismission. The only mutual 
council that could be called upon that vote — the only ex parte coun- 
cil that could be called upon that vote, on the pastor's refusal of a mu- 
tual council — is, simply and singly for the dismission of the pastor, and 
nothing else, less or more. Examine your letters missive, and see 
whether thev call you for the simple and single purpose — the dis- 
mission of the pastor — the only purpose authorized by the vote of 
March 1 ; whether as an ex parte council, you are called for the only 
purpose in regard to which a mutual councd has been offered and re- 
fused, namely, "the dismission of the pastor." On the other hand, 
you are called " to advise on the subject ;" " to do and advise on the 
subject such things as shall be right and fitting on the occasion ;" 
instead of doing the thing itself — " the dismission of the pastor." .... 
You are called, virtually, as an ex parte council, '' to do and advise 
what is risht and fitting," in regard to which no mutual council has 
been either offered or refused. 

It needs no deep searching of your letter missive to see that it is 
inconsistent with itself — that the last half of it does not agree with the 
first half The first half will sound, indeed, as strange news to Ware- 
ham ears, that the contract is dissolved, and that a mutual council has 
been offered and refused thereon. The last half must show itself as 
the plainest absurdity to these assembled churches. Why, if the first 
half be an expose of the facts, the last half should give place to the 
simple request for the council to dismiss this unreasonable pastor, 
who, in the face of his own solemn contract, refuses the common cour- 
tesy of a man in the formal dissolution of a partnership, legally dis- 
solved already ! Instead of this, a council is called *' to advise and do 
what is right and fitting," instead of applying to this unreasonable pas- 
tor the simple justice which is called for by the opening clauses of the 

letter Suppose the first half correct, and it forbids the last half. 

Suppose the first half contains the grounds on which a council was to 
be called, and the council on the last half is thereby forbidden. Sup- 
pose the last half to be in place, and the first half cannot be true. 

This council has not been authorized, is not called, and cannot sit 
and act by any vote or action of the Congregational Church of Ware- 
ham. As an ex parte council, it cannot sit and act, because no mutual 
council has been offered and refused for the purpose for which it has 

been called And I protest against the sitting and action of a 

council thus called. 

2. If this council had been called as an ex parte council, for " the 
dismission of the pastor," as authorized by the vote of March I, and if 
that were an unquestioned vote, even then it would not be entitled to 
sit and act as an ex parte council thereon, because the demand on the 
pastor to unite in such a council, in the terms of that vote, was an 
unreasonable demand. The pastor's refusal was in the following 
terms, namely: 

" Having duly considered the vote passed in church meeting yester- 
day, I find nothing therein requiring or allowing me to unite in such a 
council as proposed in that vote." 

If there was nothing in that vote which required or allowed the pas- 
tor to unite in a mutual council, then his refusal is no preparation for 
the sitting and action of an ex parte council ; and this council, though 



107 

called by that vote, would not be entitled to sit and act as an ex parte 
council. 

And why did I not find myself required or allowed to unite in a 
council for my dismission ? For the simple reason that, having been 
settled on the condition of a six months' notice, the vote of March I 
did not give me any due information that such notice had been given, 
nor propose any inquiry whether such notice had been duly given or 
not. It did, indeed,, concur with the conditional six months' notice, 
given March 1 1, 1842, two years previous, and with my refusal to ac- 
cept the condition of that notice, given April 20, 1643, and terminating 
October 20, if the parish had not resumed their obligation, and I had 
not signified my acceptance of its condition, as appears in the follow- 
ing answer made by me to the parish committee : 

*' To Stephen Gibbs, Ebcnezer Crocker, and Nathaniel Hambliny 
Committee: I hereby accept the terms proposed in the following vote, 
voted at parish meeting July 31, 1843, — ' That the parish resume their 
original contract with the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., from January 1, 
1843, except that we pay him seven hundred dollars, instead of eight 
hundred dollars, per year, provided he will accept the same.' 

*• With earnest desires and prayers that our agreement in this matter 
may be followed by blessings above all price, 

" I remain your affectionate pastor, 

" Samuel Nott, Jr." 

With the exception of the change in the salary, precisely the same 
process was gone through in the year 1837, namely, the same six 
months' notice, referring me to the subscribers " for compensation for 
parochial services" — the same refusal, after a time, to accept of that 
condition, and the same res-umption of the original contract on the 
part of the parish, and signified to me in the same way, by a committee 
of the parish. Do you think, then, after receiving such a vote of re- 
sumption, similar to one on which we had previously acted for years, 
as my last communication from the parish; and after such an answer 
on my part, and while I was still in the exercise of an acknowledged 
office thereon, — do you think I was reasonably required, without rea- 
son stated or question submitted, to unite in a council for my dismis- 
sion, precisely as if no such vote had been communicated to me? 
Was 1 required, think you, to yield, without question, my claim to sal- 
ary from October 20, 1843, to the end of a six months' notice, to the 
amount of six or seven hundred dollars ? nay, by allowing that demand 
to pass unquestioned, to run the hazard of some new concurrence on 
the part of the church, perhaps with the previous notice of 1837, and 
my refusal thereon, and the equally righteous claim upon some four 
thousand dollars received for subsequent services ? 

Nay, more, as a man of conscience and of honor, as a minister of 
Christ, bound to be blameless and without rebuke, was I allowed to 
agree to my dismission, instanter, without delay or without question, 
when I had signified my acceptance of the parish vote, and was there- 
fore solemnly bound to give a six months' notice of any intention, on 
my part, to close the relation? If the church forgot the vote and ac- 
ceptance of July 31, was I required or allowed to forget them? If the 
church presumed that the vote was invalid, was I bound both to learn 



108 

and acknowledge that presumption without a question before the proper 
tribunal ; and all this while all parties had been proceeding for six 
months, on an acknowledged relation, and when these very voters 
themselves did, just one week before, vote *' to request the parish to 
give a six months' notice," — a vote which still remains unrecalled, for 
the consideration of the parish. Surely the call for a mutual council, 
for the dismission of the pastor, made by the vote of March 1, was an 
unreasonable demand, and the pastor's refusal of such a mutual council 
was a reasonable refusal, and as surely the way is not prepared for this 
council to sit and act as an ex parte council thereon, even though they 
had been duly called, according to the vote of March 1 ; and, should 
you assume so to sit and act, all your doings and decisions, will be 
null and void, contrary to the rules and customs of the Congregational 
churches and the laws and legal decisions of this commonwealth, and 
which I shall be bound, as a Christian man and Christian minister, 
and, as a good and faithful citizen, to disregard and disobey ; and I 
am in duty bound to this church and people, to the churches who 
installed me, and to all the churches, and to these times, in which the 
game of "pitch and toss" with the holy ministry is so urgently carried 
on, to enter my deliberate and solemn protest against the sitting and 
action of this council, even though they had been duly called, ac- 
cording to the vote of March 1. 

I do, then, in my place, as pastor of this church, officially deny that 
this church has called you by the letter missive, and for the purposes 
declared in it. I deny, further, that this church has offered me a mu- 
tual council, and that I have refused one, for the purposes expressed in 
that letter. I deny, further, that the vote from which the letter missive 
ostensibly proceeds, gives any reasonable offer of a mutual council, and 
that my reasonable refusal of an unreasonable offer gives any just 
ground for an ex parte council. I therefore, the pastor of this church 
and parish, do deliberately and solemnly protest against the sitting and 
action of this ecclesiastical council; and, as you regard your own 
place and station in the church of Jesus Christ, the welfare of this 
church and parish, and of all the churches, and the great principles of 
church order in this commonwealth, I do rightfully and solemnly re- 
quire you to refuse all action as an ecclesiastical council, except to de- 
clare yourselves unduly called, and to dissolve your assembly. 

Having thus laid an absolute bar to the sitting and action of this 
council, I have yet farther to enforce the necessity and importance of 
your right decision, by matters of high importance, which themselves 
alone would be found another and sufficient bar to your proceeding to 
sit and act as an ecclesiastical council. Consider, then, the time at 
which this*concurring vote was passed, the persons by whose vote it 
was carried, and the nature of the vote itself 

On the very face of the vote, you read that two full years, lacking 
one week, had passed after the vote of the parish, March 7, 1842; 
that almost one year had passed after the pastor's notice of April 20, 
1843, thereon, and more than four months after that notice had run 
out, and seven months after the resumed contract had taken practical 
effect. Before you allow yourselves to sit and act, even though you 
had been called according to the vote of March 1, you would have one 
important point to settle, namely, how far back the principles of inter- 



109 

ference with past settlements may be carried. You would be required 
to determine whether these are the longest strides of concurrence that 
your wisdom and conscience can allow; lest, haply, you be called back 
on the after-thought which your precedent has called forth, in a vote of 
concurrence with the vote and notice of 1837, and you should find 
yourselves required to dismiss the minister on that more distant claim, 
under the debt of some five thousand dollars for the bread he has eaten 
in the service of his people ! 

But, again, who are these voters, who come along thus lingeringly 
in their vote of concurrence ? and why loiter they so long 1 Why did 
they not concur in the time of it ? Why, for the best of all reasons, 
that only six of them were then members of the church ; and because 
the ten by whom the vote was carried were not members at all until 
they were admitted by council the 20th of December ! Moreover, 
nine of these voters were also, when they voted, under right and lawful 
question and challenge whether they were entitled to the rights and 
privileges of this church — under the official appeal of the pastor — un- 
der the appeal of their brethren to the proper tribunal, to decide a case, 
in comparison of which I have said in church meeting, the question of 
the dismission of the minister is not the matter of a straw. Before 
you allow yourselves to sit and act, you will have to decide how far 
you will sanction these ex post facto doers ! How far back new 
lords may go in making new laws, and how far you will allow mem- 
bers, under due challenge and question, their vote, while such due 
challenge and question are pending before the proper tribunal. 

But 1 pass to the nature of the vote itself What, then, is this vote 
of March 1 ? What is this act, purporting to be done by the church 
of Christ in Wareham — which the church in Wareham asks the 
churches of the Old Colony to sanction? Say, is it such a vote that 
these churches of Jesus Christ can allow themselves to sit and act 
upon it — the churches of the Old Colony above all — that mother and 
pattern of the Christianity that has filled the land? Let us see. On 
the very face of it, it is an unrighteous vote ; and a Christian council 
cannot sit explicitly and with forethought to do an unrighteous act. 
The remarkable vote of March 1, calls you to do an unrighteous act; 
otherwise it has no meaning whatever — unless it requires the dismission 
of the minister on the ground that the resuming vote of July 31, 1843, 
has in it some legal defect which leaves the pastor's notice to its neces- 
sary issue on the 20th October last. And now suppose — what I by no 
means allow — that it is so. Suppose some legal defect, some flaw or 
informality in the vote of the parish, July 31, 1843, whereby the con- 
tract may be proved legally dissolved on the 20th October last, though 
it came to the pastor with all the signs of soundness and good faith, as 
the similar vote of 1837 ; though all parties have been acting upon it 
till now, the parish and church receiving, and the pastor rendering pa- 
rochial services as ever from his settlement, and though the voters of 
March 1, voted just one week previously, their request for a six months' 
notice. 

Suppose the discovery made between February 23 and March 1 — or 
no matter when — that there is a legal flaw or informality which dis- 
solves the connection on the 20th of October, almost a year before it 
can he dissolved otherwise ; suppose the letter missive to go forth bear- 
15 



110 

ing on its face the call to dismiss on this legal defect, contrary to the 
understanding which has been acted on by all parties, contrary to the 
claims in equity on that mutual understanding. Suppose this hard 
measure, which literal law measures out sometmies by compulsion, at 
the bidding of unrighteousness and fraud ; suppose this hard measure is 
called for at the hands of a Christian council; — tell me, can a Chris- 
tian council volunteer itself for this vile work, which courts of law do 
only by necessity, and which courts of equity, whenever they can, can- 
cel and annul ? A council of Christian churches, acting with the law 
of the land, is, from its very nature, a court of equity. It cannot sit to 
do a legalized wrong. It cannot sit to do away obligations which be- 
long to the mutual understanding of parties, by legal chicanery, unless 
it will sink its high character to the lowest depths of pettifogging injus- 
tice ; and, if the thing were possible, Wareham has too much honor 
and principle to take the dishonor and the wrong at your gift. No, 
sir, if your letter missive bear upon its face the demand to do legalized 
injustice, like the vote of March I, you should make it a letter dismis- 
sive from the unworthy, the unchristian service. No wonder that your 
actual letters missive faltered as they spoke— that they could not utter 
the words they had taken on their tongue — that they dared not call 
you to dismiss, but faltered the inconsistent request that you would ad- 
vise and do what was fitting and right. I say again, sir, the question 
of the minister's staying or going is not the matter of a straw 1 but the 
question whether a court of Christ shall sit to take unrighteous advan- 
tage, is one which cannot be measured by all things of earth and 
time I 

The counterpart of this vile business would be that the pastor should 
turn round upon the church and parish, and say, You know, that, owing 
to informalities, all the parish proceedings from 1837 to March, 1844, 
are illegal, and of course, according to the letter of the law, are null 
and void, and my original contract is still binding, and my claim good 
for eight hundred dollars a year, instead of seven, from September 7, 
1842, to the end of a six months' notice, to be hereafter given ! All 
this is plain on your parish records, and was acknowledged by your act 
in March meeting, when you began every thing anew, with all legal^ 

formalities God forbid that I should thus claim advantage from 

a legal flaw, in violation of the mutual understanding of all parties. 
God forbid that this council should give its sanction to a like attempt 
by assuming to sit for such a purpose as a court of Jesus Christ. 

Such are the important matters with which another and sufficient 
bar is made to your sitting and acting as an ecclesiastical council, be- 
side the double bar by which I have before required you to refuse to 
sit, and to dissolve your assembly. 

And if, under a high sense of your responsibility to the great Head 
of the church, to all the churches, and to all men, you shall refuse to 
sit and act, — if you shall do this, and nothing but this, then shall you 
do the utmost possible for the good of this community. Do not think 
that our Wareham affairs cannot be settled without some" action there- 
on, by an unauthorized and illegal council. Whenever this parish 
cannot or will not sustain the pastor, they can and they will give him, 
*' manfully and decidedly, the absolute and final six months' notice," 
which, in that case, I have claimed, and do claim, at their hands, and 



Ill 

which I have promised again and again to receive without complaint. 
And we know well enough how to do business in Wareham, when 
thus the contract shall indeed be dissolved, to call you to a mutual 
council, not *' to advise and do what is fitting," but in very deed to 
dismiss the minister, without faltering as we speak. Let us alone in 
this matter until we make thus an authorized and legal call, and we 
will make your next coming, it may be some six or seven months 
hence, as easy as your hearts can desire, only asking you then to 
make such inquiries as to know with what character you shall send 
forth a discarded minister upon the churches. 

But if this parish will not do this, if they will not accomplish the 
dismission of their minister, according to a contract — surely easy 
enough — then there is another way in which your just refusal to act 
may prove an inestimable blessing to Wareham. 

" God moves in a mysterious way. 
His wonders lo perform." 

Your silent rebuke may do more than all possible doing what you 
ought not and cannot do as an ecclesiastical council, in settling what 
the letter missive calls our ** distracted state." '* Where there is no 
wood the fire goeth out;" and where there are no dislracters, the dis- 
traction ceaseth. If the sixteen persons who voted on March 1, to call 
a council for the dismission of the pastor ; nay, if the one half of these 
voters will, from this day, lay aside all efforts to distract, and will unite 
with us in that " Christian and harmonious union," for which the 
council of December 20 found us prepared, — then I call all Wareham 
to witness my assertion, that there would not be found less distraction, 
and more mutual confidence, more hope of free course to the word of 
God, in any church and parish in the whole commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts. 

No doubt the determined efforts of a few to accomplish the dismis- 
sion of a minister of fair character and inoffensive manners may have 
produced, as may be expected every where, from like efforts, a degree 
of distraction. But the true way to settle it, is not by unauthorized 
interference — is not by unauthorized and unlawful dismission — but by 
calm and peaceful firmness in wha-t is true and right; by calm and 
peaceful refusal to do what is wrong. Your Christian refusal to-day 
may be the very hinge on which the welfare of these brethren and of 
this church is to turn. It may be, they themselves will welcome 
it as a gracious providence, aiding them in that Christian and harmo- 
nious union, whose morning we thought broke upon us four months 
ago. And if they do, they will be welcomed and. cheered in their 
efforts to be good, and do good, and in the light by which they shall 
glorify God — by brethren and sisters ever their friends, and by the 
great mass of this people, and by a pastor, who verily believes not only 
that he holds the confidence and affection of the great mass of this 
community, but that he has conducted himself ever so kindly and 
justly to themselves, and so much like an honest an<l Christian man, as 
to have secured the respect of these sixteen themselves, and to give 
him still the just and reasonable hope that they, too, may turn to him 
with confidence and affection, and welcome him as their pastor in the 



112 

Lord with blessings on their own head, as well as upon this church and 
people. 

Do not think the hope I now express impossible. Do not let any 
fear that your right decision, your just rebuke, will fail to accomplish 
it, prove a moment's temptation to withhold it. I believe, as I said in 
regard to these matters to my church six months ago, — I believe in the 
power of the Christianity I preach, in turning to repentance those 
within, as well as those without the church. There are higher, holier, 
more Christian methods of settling the distractions of churches, than 
by calling wrong right or right wrong, or attempting to make them 
coalesce ; and I pray that your clear declarations, your wise decisions, 
to-day, may prove the beginning and growth of a union, in all that is 
true, and just, and honest, and of good report, until the heavens shall 
drop down a blessing upon us and around us, that there shall not be 
room to receive. 

In encouraging myself in this hope, I will go further, and adopt the 
expressions of four years ago, when the Trinitarian Church was formed, 
for even yet, I cannot and will not despair. I am a missionary, too well 
taught in my youth by the marvellous and gracious providence of God, 
to be despairing in my age, even at such a time as this. I do not, I 
cannot, and I will not, despair of a Christian and harmonious union 
of these brethren with me in what I believe to be the right principles 
and measures of my own ministry. 

Be you faithful in your post to-day, not trying the uncertainties of 
expediency for the sake of peace, but the certainties of truth and duty, 
and your firm Christian fidelity may lead on blessings which to all eter- 
nity you shall never be able to measure. You may thus recall these 
brethren from what I verily believe is the error of their way — from the 
path of thorns, in which I verily believe they have suffered themselves 
to stray, and give them and us, instead of distraction, *' peace like a 
river, and righteousness like the waves of the sea." 

Why, sir, you are not ignorant of the vast extent and growing suc- 
cess of American missions to the heathen, and of the promise they 
give of blessings to the whole earth ; but do you know, also, that their 
outset was marked by God's marvellous and gracious providence, twice 
ruling to his will and to peaceful co-operation the obstinate decision of 
men who had taken a wrong course, preparing thus the way of the 
Lord in many pagan nations? The governments of India declared that 
the missionaries should not form a settlement under their authority, 
and yet, in the moment of extremity, God turned their hearts as the 
rivers of waters are turned. The rulers of the East in London, one 
year later, arose in their wrath to forbid those missionaries, whom their 
servants had at last allowed; but again, in the moment of extremity, 
the firm rebuke of one good and great man — the decided condemna- 
tion of their wrong doing by one true believer among them — turned 
their hearts also by the aid of Heaven, as the rivers of water are 
turned. Behold the pattern of my hopes and prayers for Wareham. 

" God moves in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform : 
He plants his footsteps in the sea, 
And rides upon the storm. 



113 



" Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take j 
The clouds ye so much dread 
Are big wiili mercy, and shall break 
In blessings on your head." 

Result. — {Reprinted.) 

An ecclesiastical council was convened in VVareham,by letter's mis- 
sive from the Congregational Church in that place, on Alonday, at one 
o'clock, P. M., April 15, 1814, to do and advise such things as may 
seem right and fitting, in reference to the dismission of their pastor, 
the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. 

Rev. Cyrus Mann was chosen moderator, who lead in prayer. 

Rev. C. C. Beaman was appointed scribe. 

There were present, — 
Rev. Cyrus Mann, ) From the Robinson Church 

'J 



Br. Whitman S. Winsor, delegate, f Plymouth. 

Rev. Israel W. Putnam, > p ^^^^ ^^^^^ . Middleborough, 

Br. Nathaniel Eddy, delegate, ^ *= 

Rev. Jonathan King, ) -ci ,i i u • ri 

Tk rTM, TT " 1 1 1 X ? From the church m Carver. 

Dea. 1 homas Hammond, delegate, ) 

Rev. Hazael Lucas, ) From the church in Sandwich, 

Br. Benjamin Bourne, delegate, j Monument. 

Rev. Benjamin Whittemore, ) From the church in Plymouth, (Eel] 



Br. Bartlett Holmes, delegate, ) River.) 

Rev. John Dwight, ) From th 

Br. Branch Holmes, delegate, ) (Ponds.) 

Rev. Joseph Peckham, ) t^ *i, u u • tz- ^ 

Tx 7VT ^u • I r^ u J 1 ^ } ^ ron^ the church m Kmffston. 

Dea. Nathaniel Cushman, delegate, ) ^ 



Rev. John Dwight, ) From the church in Plymouth 



> From the church in North Falmouth. 



Dea. Cephas Bumpus, delegate, from the church in Plympton. 

Rev. C. C. Beaman, 

Dea. Joshua Nye, delegate. 

Making, in all, nine churches represented in the council. 

The council then proceeded to hear the church, who appeared by 
their committee and counsel, in reference to the objects for which their 
letter missive was issued. 

An offer of making this council a mutual one was tendered to the 
Rev. Mr. Nott by the counsel of the church, which he declined ac- 
cepting. They also received from the Rev. Mr. Nott a protest, read by 
himself, denying the jurisdiction of the council, as an ex parte council. 
They likewise attended to the statements and arguments of other gen- 
tlemen, friends of Rev. Mr. Nott, who volunteered their services in his 
behalf. 

Upon a full hearing of the parties, it appeared to the council that 
the church had offered to the pastor a mutual council in reference to his 
dismission: and that he had unreasonably refused to unite with the 
church in calling one. Whereupon it was 

Voted^ That this council has been called in due accordance with the 
usages of our churches, and has jurisdiction as an ex parte council. 

The council also attended to the reasons assigned by the church for 
their wishing the dismission of Rev. Mr. Nott, from which it appeared 



114 

that a majority of the acting members of the church are dissatisfied 
with his ministry, that the parish has become greatly scattered and 
divided, and that the civil contract for the support of the pastor has 
become void; and, moreover, that he has declared, in the most public 
and solemn manner, that he will never unite in a council to consider 
the expediency of his dismission, the written proof of which he retains 
in his own possession, after having promised it to the church,* 

These considerations, together with the strong conviction produced in 
the minds of the council by all the evidence presented in the case, that 
the usefulness of the pastor, in his present ministerial connection, is 
essentially diminished, have brought the council to the conclusion that 
the pastoral relation between the Rev. Mr. Nott and the church ought 
to cease. Whereupon it was unanimously 

Voted, That, in accordance with the action of the church, the said 
pastoral relation is hereby dissolved. 

The council trust that they are deeply sensible of the sacredness of 
the pastoral relation, and they would be cautious and fearful in effect- 
ing its dissolution, in any circumstances, and especially by an ex parte 
council ; but, after deliberate and prayerful consideration of the 
case which has brought them together, painful as it is, they feel con- 
strained to come to the present result. 

The council deeply sympathize with this church in their trials. We 
are aware of the attachment of some to their pastor, and the loss which 
they will feel they are sustaining in his dismissal, but believe that they 
will, on due consideration, see that the separation was rendered desi- 
rable, and necessary to the peace and best interests of this church and 
people. The long-continued difficulties appear to the council to forbid 
the hope that Rev. JVlr. Nott could recover the confidence of the 
church, so as to be useful as their minister. 

While we could have wished that he had been more kind and con- 
ciliatory towards those who have been dissatisfied with his preaching 
and the measures he has pursued, and while we would not question 
his piety, and would freely acknowledge his learning and talents, 
we think he could be more useful and happy in some other field of 
labor. 

We would solemnly remind this church of the importance of study- 
ing the things which make for peace, and praying earnestly and perse- 
veringly for the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit to revive this 
portion of the Lord's vineyard. 

We would now commend you, the brethren, and all this people, to 
God and the word of his grace, to keep you, and build you up in faith 
and holiness. 

(Signed,) Cyrus Mann, Moderator. 

(Signed,) C. C. Beaman, Scribe. 

Wareham, April 17, 1844. 

The Rev. Messrs. Bigelow, Cobb, and J. Roberts, and their del- 
egates, being met in council this day, the council, after some delibera- 
tion, came unanimously to the following conclusion: 

* The pastor refused to give up the church records, containing the reservation (see p. 94, 
top) before <fti» council, of course. . , iii 



115 

That they prefer taking no action on the subject matter submitted 
to them, for the two following reasons : 

1, Some of the churches having failed to attend, leaves the council 
few in number. 

2. The subjects submitted to them, and the new position in which 
they find matters in Wareham, necessarily require a mutual council in 
order to their proper adjustment. 

J. BiGELOw, Moderator. 
J. Roberts, Scribe. 



SIXTH PERIOD— FROM APRIL 17, 1844, TO SEPTEMBER 25, 1844. 

Copy of Pastor^ s Letter to Parish Assessors. 

Wareham, April 17, 1844. 

To the Assessors of the Parish: Dear Friends, — I have understood 
that the ex parte council which assembled on the loth, did this morn- 
ing declare me dismissed from my pastoral office, but I have received 
no official information of such a decision. Supposing, however, that 
it is true, I think it proper to inform you that I believe such a decision 
both illegal and unjust, for reasons manifest in my protest against the 
jurisdiction of that council, publicly laid before them, and to which I 

refer you Under this assertion 1 think it my duty to inform you, also, 

that 1 consider myself still legally bound to your service, according to 
contract, until other and legal action has been had ; and so far as ob- 
structions are qot laid in my way, I shall continue in that service.- As, 
however, there may be obstructions laid by claimants, on the ground 
that the contract is legally dissolved, I shall conceive my claim suffi- 
ciently asserted in this letter, though in any such case 1 should leave 
the specific duty undone. This letter shall be my apology for not 
insisting on my legal rights, should I find them infringed in the house 
of God. 

I take it for granted you will take such measures as will, of course, 
prevent my continuance for any great length of time among you ; and, 
in that view, my earnest prayer is, that you may receive those blessings 
of truth and righteousness which I have sought for you for fifteen 
years, and the news of which 1 will ever consider my joy and crown. 
With great affection, your pastor, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 



Extract from a Warrant, April 20, calling the Parish to meet on 
April 29, 1844. 

To see if the parish will give the pastor, the Rev. Samuel Nott, 
Jr., a six months' notice, that the contract with the parish will ex- 
pire at that time, and to make all necessary arrangements for the 
same. 



116 

Notice. 

Wareham, April 21, 1844. 

Rev, Mr. Nott is requested to notify a church meeting, to be held 
at this place on Wednesday next, at two o'clock, P. M., to organize 
and act in accordance with the decision of council, met on the 15th of 
the present month. 

SiLVANus Bourne, 
Benjamin Fearing, 
Abisha Barrows. 

Public Communication, April 28, 1844. 

In order that my course may be definitely understood, and in that 
openness and honesty which I have ever maintained, I have to read 
the following papers. 

I received yesterday the following communication, namely : 

Warehatn, April 27, 1844. 

Rev." Samuel Nott, Jr. : Dear Sir, — We hereby request you to oc- 
cupy our pulpit, preach, and administer the sacred ordinances, until 
further notice. 

Very respectfully yours, &c., 

Silvanus Bourne, 

For ike Prudential Committee raised by vote of the Church on Wednesday last. 

[He has since preached by reason of a compromise ! ! ! See Memo- 
rial, in Appendix.] 

Answer, April 28. 

I think it important to state publicly that I do not acknowledge any 
meeting of this church on Wednesday last, and that I occupy the pul- 
pit solely on the ground of the authority of the votes of this church and 
parish, and of the installing council in the year 1829, according to the 
letter addressed by me to the parish officers, April 17, 1844, and to 
the postscript which I have added thereto this day, namely : 

Dear Friends, — I have to add to my note of the 17th inst. that I 
have taken pains, the past week, to consult the best legal and ecclesi- 
astical authorities, in regard to the doings of the ex parte council which 
met here on the 15th, and that I am most fully confirmed by them in 
the positions taken in my protest before council, and in my letter to 
the parish officers; that all things between me and the church and 
parish stand precisely as they would if no such council had ever exist- 
ed, and that its doings are to all intents and purposes null and void. 
Praying that the parish may be directed aright, I am, &,c. 

Puhlic Notice, April 28, 1844. "' 

In regular course, the administration of the Lord's supper would 
occur the next Sabbath. I propose to suspend the administration un- 



■■^^, 



117 

til further notice, if further consideration or new events should remove 
the difficulties which now prevent me. 

In March last, 1 administered the Lord's supper because the com- 
plaint of the pastor and others had no time to be carried through and 
come to an issue. The case now is, that, under two protests, the 
brethren have declined both acknowledgment and reference ; and, 
instead of acknowledgment or reference, they have organized them- 
selves on the very error complained of, and propose the administration 
on the very ground of that error. ^ 

In this state of things, I suspend the administration until further 
consideration, or new events shall make my way clear to administer. 

The delay will not be in vain, if it lead the minister and all church 
members to self-examination and prayer, if, haply, we may soon unite 

in a true and righteous fellowship at the table of our Lord Still 

our Savior says to us, to all, *' Behold I stand at the door and knock." 

Vote of Parish, Ap?'il2d, 1844, after declining to give six months' 

Notice. 

"Whereas we regret the difficulty that exists in the church under the 
pastoral care of the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., feeling great reluctance in 
taking any action in dissolving the contract between him and the par- 
ish, at a time when seven-eighths of the parish are actually in favor of 
retaining him as their pastor, if we could have the aid of those who 
have become dissatisfied with his preaching and procedure; but, under 
all circumstances, in the hope of peace in the society, this parish have 
come to the conclusion to pass the following vote, namely : 

Therefore Voted, To give the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., notice that 
his connection with this parish be dissolved at the end of six months, 
if a mutual council so advise. 

Chose Stephen Gibbs, Ebenezer Crocker, and Darius Miller, a com- 
mittee to communicate the preceding vote to Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., 
and to act for the parish in all matters relative to the council proposed 
therein. 

Public Communication, 3Tay 5. 

Before entering on my discourse this morning, I think it right to re- 
fer to the action of the parish on Monday last, and to say that I cheer- 
fully submit to the issue proposed in their vote, to which I shall, of 
course, recall your attention early in October. 

In the mean while, it shall be my aim to revive and establish in 
your minds the great principles which have been the subject of my 
ministry, in the hope, almost the expectation, that a six months likely 
to be the last, will be crowned with great and glorious success. 

In order to this, I must claim of you a diligent, candid, prayerful 
hearing of the word of God. 

Too many of your thoughts hitherto have been on liking and dis- 
likinor — on retaining and dismissing — on the minister, and not on the 
word administered. Let us have one six months of attention to the 
very word itself; and then, perhaps, unpraised, unblamed, the minister, 
aided from on high, will prove himself above all praise, above all 
16 



118 

blame, by administering the very word of life to your salvation. *^ Is 
not my word like as a fire ? saith the Lord, and like a hammer, that 
breaketh the rock in pieces'?" 

From Sermon^ August 11, 1844. 

You know my habit of following long one subject, in its various re- 
lations and views, Sabbath after Sabbath, as exempli§ed in my pub- 
lished sermons. Have you sometimes grown tired of the old story 1 
I know not how it may have been with yon ; but, with me, I have pur- 
sued these courses because /did not get tired of them — because I be- 
came deeply interested in them — and because I hoped most to interest 

you in what deeply interested myself If they were poor to you, 

be assured they were rich to me, and aided the life of faith which I 
have been trying to live. If, indeed, I have thus presented you treas- 
ures better than of gold and silver — if I have thus led forth to you 
streams Qf living waters — pray that, before we part, after we part, if 
we part, they may enrich and quicken your souls also. As Luther 
said of his psalm, these lessons are so mine, that whoever will, may 
have them — my texts, my sermons, my psalms, ujy scripture prayers — 
I have urged them upon you because I have daily endeavored to make 
them mine. 

And here I may refer to the future. With principles long settled, in 
view of the word of God as the treasure and the fountain of my own 
blessings, I can but ask you to pray that I may be steadfast ; correct- 
ing, indeed, whatever is amiss, filling up whatever is defective in doc- 
trine and practice, and yet steadfast in my principles and my course. 
I pause midway in the last thirty years of human life, on the threshold 
of the last fifteen, and I ask what becomes me in regard to the future] 
— How does it become an elderly man to finish his course? — liow 7 — 
not where. That is of small account — not where, but how? And I 
answer under a deep consciousness of sound doctrine and upright 
intentions and practice, on the sdf-same principles as I have maintained 
for the last fifteen years; as stand recorded in my printed works, only 
more consistently with them, and more earnestly and fully devoted to 
them. Pray for me — not that I may retain my station among you — 
not that I may secure place and livelihood, though I am not indifferent 
to these things — but that I may not swerve from my principles; that I 
may maintain my integrity, wherever I am, and whatever may be my 
lot, until 1 shall finish my course. If you will not receive me icith my 
principles and practice, then I ask not your favor; and if no other 
people will, then let me finish life as I began it, — as a minister to 
the world — a preacher of the gospel to every creature — suffering all loss 
rather than, in word or deed, I should be both yea and nay in regard 
to the truths and methods of the gospel. " Pray for us; for we trust 
we have a conscience in all things willing to live honestly." 

From Sermon, August 18, 1844. 

This afternoon will call up the peculiarities of our relation. I 
have no pleasure in referring to them. More than three months have 
passed without any notice of them ; and, from this day, I do not intend 



119 

to refer to them again until I am called before council I shall 

now, once for all, do it without reserve, as 1 think our case requires, 
and endeavoring to finish my duty therein. 

5. I ask your prayers in view of our remarkable condition as pastor 
and flock. 

It is a very remarkable condition. I am not a little acquainted with 
such affairs, and I must say it is perfectly novel and strange to me. . . . 
The like of it I have never known; and I have had to decide and act 
without any precedent to guide me, while, yet, my duty has seemed 
perfectly plain. Happy for me and for you, if, in my difficult and re- 
sponsible place, I have been enabled to decide and act aright 

However that may be, let the condition to which a long course of pro- 
ceedings has brought us, be distinctly stated and understood. Let us 
clearly see where we are. 

This, then, is our condition in few words : The pastor stands in 
the decided and continued refusal to administer the Lord's supper to 
sixteen brethren, who ask it at his hands, as he thinks, on unwarrant- 
able grounds — on unrighteous and illegal proceedings — on an unau- 
thorized and unlawful organization as the church I did, indeed, 

make that refusal, April 28, wishing to take the utmost caution, "until 
further consideration or new events should remove the difficulty which 
prevented me." .... But I must have already given it to be understood, 
by more than three months' delay, that my refusal is fixed and final, 

until the proceedings on which it was grounded are retracted 

That there may be no misunderstanding, however, I do now declare 
expressly and solemnly, after months of consideration and careful con- 
sultation, my continued refusal, and that I have no intention or expec- 
tation of ever administerino to them the Lord's supper again, so long 

as the case remains as stated in my public refusal, April 2^ Thus 

the pastor stands, before you, the churches, and the world, and before 
the great Head of the church. 

The condition in which we stand, as pastor and flock, is not to be 

disguised With the most earnest desires for the welfare of the 

brethren referred to, I am bound to declare, openly and solemnly, In 
the position they have taken, on the grounds on which they stand, fel- 
lowship is impossible. The refusal to administer and to act with them 

is unavoidable On the grounds on which they stand, the pastor 

cannot stand with them. In the path they take he cannot be agreed 
to walk with them. The path they have taken, the ground on which 
they stand, leave him no choice. 

This state of things — such proceedings and such a position on the 
part of church members, and such a refusal on the part of a pastor — 
is, so far as I know, without a parallel in New England, and bids fair 
to make us a spectacle for all the churches, and a landmark for future 
times. It is an evil state, of which I cannot see any desirable end, by 

any foresight of mine I believe it beyond all human skill and 

power. Mortal man cannot remedy the evil: I surely cannot; and it 
is for this reason, because it is beyond all human help, that I commend 
it to your prayers. As I have said to many of you individually ail 
summer, without this detail, "Enter into thy closet, and shut to thy 
door, and pray to thy Father in secret, and he shall reward thee 
openly." 



120 

But I have not yet stated our condition in all its aggravation 

These brethren hold their position with the approval and sanction of 
nine churches in ecclesiastical council assembled, deciding with all the 
aid rendered by two eminent lawyers. And the pastor stands in his 
refusal against the authority of those lawyers — of those nine churches; 
and since ecclesiastical councils are supposed to express the mind of 
all the churches — against, so far as yet appears, the decision of all the 
churches ; thus abusing, if it be abuse, not a few members of one 
church, but nine churches, and all the churches — if it be ecclesiastical 
tyranny, thus lording it over nine churches and all the churches. 

Nor is this all. Yourselves also, in the vote which you have passed, 
referring the question of dismission to a mutual council, do thereby 
acknowledge that there is a pastor to dismiss ; and do repudiate and 
reject the whole doings of these brethren, and the council from March 
1, to April 17, inclusive. And should the council called by your vote 
either dismiss or sustain me, in either case they will in like manner 
repudiate and reject the same, thus making an extraordinary case, and 
I say again, so far as I know, without a parallel in the annals of New 
England. 

This is our condition, and there is nothing to be gained by present- 
ing it in false colors, or turning our eyes away from it, as if it would 
cease to be, by any misrepresentation or oblivion. It is most fitting 
that I should attempt to bring it distinctly and fully before you. It is 
an evil condition, and there is no disguising it. It ought to be looked 
upon carefully by me and by you. 1 ought to consider where I stand. 
You ought severally to consider where you stand. It is a grave and solemn 
question for all parties, whether we shall have a permantnt self-approval, 
not merely whether we shall stand approved by the coming council, 
when all the documents shall have been forced before them — not 
whether we shall stand approved before the churches and the world, 
when, as now seems likely, the documents shall have been forced be- 
fore the public at large — not whether we shall have the approbation of 
posterity, when these documents shall become a permanent part of the 
ecclesiastical history of New England ; but the question is, whether we 
shall permanently approve ourselves, and shall stand approved at last 
before the Judge of the living and the dead. 

In view of these questions, and of our remarkable condition as pastor 
and flock, let the word be, to myself, to you, to each and to all, " Enter 
into thy closet and shut to thy door, and pray to thy Father which is 
in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee 
openly." 

And for what are we to pray ? Of course that truth and righteous- 
ness may prevail, whoever stands approved or condemned ; for without 
and against truth and righteousness there is no reward. Pray, of 
course, if I am wrong, if you who call this council are wrong in re- 
jecting the doings from March 1, to April 17, that we may acknowl* 
edge our error and retrace our steps. But if we are right therein, 
then that those who differ from us may acknowledge their error, and 
retrace their steps; and that thus, my action, and your action in this 
painful case, may turn out for the furtherance of the gospel ; that, by 
means of my refusal, and our present evil condition itself, the word of 



121 

the Lord may have free course and be glorified This, that seems 

the V(3ry completion and fulness of our misfortunes, may thus prove the 
beginning of boundless and durable prosperity — this, that now seems 
a most grievous and incurable disunion, may prove the best means of 
union — as the very dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of 
Zion. 

Wareham, August 26, 1844. 

To S. Gibbs, E. Crocker, and Darius Milhr, Parish Committee : 
Dear Sirs, — I hereby accept the proposition made me by the parish, 
through you, April 29, which I understand as a notice that my connec- 
tion with the parish shall cease October 29, if a mutual council 
so advise. I agree, further, that, if the connection with the parish 
cease, according to your vote, the same council shall dissolve my con- 
nection with the church, and the dissolution to take effect at the same 
time. 

This consent is given on the understanding that the following points 
are granted, namely : 

J. That the council is to consist only of churches who have settled 
pastors. 

2. That no member of the council which declared me dismissed on 
the 17th of April, is eligible on the question whether I shall be dis- 
missed on the 29th of October. 

3. That the advice of the council is to be given after a full hearing 
of the documents laid before the church and parish from April 9, 1834, 
with such explanations and statements as I may see needful ; and that 
their advice that '* The connection with the parish be dissolved on the 
29th October," shall not take effect unless all accounts are then settled 
between the pastor and the parish. 

Further, in consenting to a proposition which so varies my privilege 
by contract as to prevent me from making any attempt for future pro- 
vision until the decision of the council' shall be known, I claim that 
the council meet as early as September 24, that, if dismissed, I may 
have one month, instead of the six allowed by contract, for such cor- 
respondence in regard to the future as I may see best. 

It is also understood as my privilege to choose one half of the coun- 
cil. As the question submitted by your vote is whether the parish 
shall avail itself of its right by contract, as modified by my consent, it 
belongs to you, as their committee, to provide for the other half I 
shall be happy to meet you at an early day, that the letters missive 
may be sent as early as September 1. 

With earnest prayers that this matter may be issued to the glory of 
God and to the best good of pastor, church, and parish, 

I am, &c. 

August 30, 1844. 

At a church meeting called " in acknowledgment of the pastor set- 
tled August 5, 1829," on refusing the votes of the sixteen, the pastor 
read the following paper, namely : 



122 

Refusal, S^c. 

On April 28th, I suspended the Lord's supper, in view of matters 
complained of in the protests of March I, and April 14, on which 
there had been neither acknowledgment nor reference, and of the or- 
ganization of the brethren complained of, and their request for the ad- 
ministration of ordinances on the very ground of their error. On Au- 
gust 18, after almost four months' consideration, and after careful con- 
sultation, I declared my decided and finalrefusal to administer to the 
sixteen brethren organized on the results of the vote of March 1, so 

long as the case remains as stated in my public refusal, April 28 

The case then declared may be stated under the following particulars, 
namely : 

1. The sixteen brethren request the administration of ordinances on 
an organization as the church, on ground which, as pastor of this 
church, I utterly disallow; that is, on the ground that I am not pastor, 
and that both the preaching and ordinances are under the charge of a 
prudential committee, raised by this false organization on Wednesday, 
April 24. 

Of course I cannot administer to the claimants, on the ground that 
I am not pastor, while I am still acting as pastor, on the ground 
that they have charge, while I myself am but continuing in the ch irge 
which 1 received from the installing council of August 5, 1829. This 
claim being set up, J must necessarily meet it, either by acknowledg- 
ment or denial, both in words and deeds. I cannot acknowledge it: 
I must therefore deny it in M'ord and deed. I must needs do one 
thing or the other. - I must administer the Lord's supper either as a 
dismissed or an undismissed minister ; as pastor, or as not pastor. 
They must do one thing or the other. They must receive the Lord's 
supper at my hands as a dismissed or as an undismissed minister ; as 
pastor, or as not pastor; as being or not being themselves under my 
pastoral charge. I cannot rneet them, they cannot meet me, in two 
opposite characters at once ; on the basis of 1829, on which I still 
stand, and on the basis of April 17, 1844, on which they require the 
administration of ordinances. Indeed, with these opposite claims, we 
cannot meet at all in church action or fellowship. We cannot even 
acknowledge the same meetings to be meetings of the church. A 
meeting called by me, in my office as pastor, cannot be acknowledged 
by them as a church meeting, on their assumption that I am not pas- 
tor ; a meeting called by their organs, on their organization of 
April 24, cannot be acknowledged by me. And hence we are 
without any possibility of co-action or fellowship. There is left no 
path ; there is left not even a starting-point of agreement. How 
can two walk together, unless they be agreed where to come to- 
gether, — if they disagree as to the starting point and the direction 
of their path — if their starting points and their way are abso- 
lutely opposite — if the two starting places be Boston and New York, 

and the paths be one east and the other west, whatever else 

is obscure, this is plain enough — there can be no co-action or fellow- 
ship of the pastor with those who have taken charge of the preaching 
and ordinances on the false basis of 1844 The pastor, acting on 



123 

his installation vows of August 5, 1829, cannot have co-action and 
fellowship with the self-styled church which organized April "24, 1844, 
on the false issues of March 1, and April 15. Should I proceed in co- 
action and fellowship, as if nothing had happened, I should set at 
nought all the principles of church order — all the principles on which 
co-action and fellowship can exist — all the principles on which there 
can be a church in the sisterhood of the churches, and by which 

churches and parishes can be united together Thenceforward 

the pastoral relation, the church covenant, the installing council, and 
the fellowship of the churches, the concurrence of the church and par- 
ish in the settlement of the pastor would be but names — would be as 
empty as a bubble Thenceforward any number of church mem- 
bers, few or many, without authority, might dismiss the minister, organ- 
ize a new church, and take charge of preaching and ordinances at 
their will, again and yet again ; and no number could be fixed to these 
new churches, taking their stand against the regular church and min- 
ister, taking charge of pulpit and ordinances — all existing still (if it 
were possible in such a Babel of confusion) in co-action and fellow- 
ship, as if nothing had happened — all agreeing to walk together from 
opposite starting points and in opposite paths. 

It is equally plain that I cannot administer to them as members of a 
sister church. They cannot be regarded as a regularly constituted 
sister church, while on false grounds they claim to be the very church, 
whose sister only they might have been on any regular constitution. 

2. This decision is rendered still more necessary in view of the 
character of the vote of Ma^;ch 1, from which this new organization 
proceeds. That vote is styled, in our protest, " unrighteous and dis- 
graceful ;" and this charge requires some action before we can again 
walk together. But their new organization renders all dealings with 
them impossible. There is no body before which our complaint can 
be carried. There is no church which they acknowledge but them- 
selves and those who may unite with them under their false organiza- 
tion There is no church which we acknowledge but those who 

stand together, under the pastor, as the council left us, August 5, 1829. 
We have no alternative, then, but to declare them, by their own act, 
severed and withdrawn, and that we have no responsibility for them or 
to them, save to answer their appeal from this declaration, if they see 
cause to make it before a mutual council. We cannot declare them 
guilty of an '* unrighteous and disgraceful vote," and then proceed 
with them in Christian fellowship, as if nothing had happened. 

3. Ten of these sixteen are under another bar, namely. Their vote 
of March 1, is in violation of the agreement before council, December 
20, 1843, on which they were re-admitted, and in forfeiture of their 

claim to the rights and privileges of this church The like may be 

asserted of their vote of February 23, against which we protested, 
March 1. But we speak of the latest vote, because it was peculiarly 
deliberate and aforethought, and because it dates its claim for the dis- 
mission of the pastor months before the time when, by solemn agree- 
ment, "all past grievances were considered as settled," when the coun- 
cil found the pastor and both churches " prepared for Christian and 
harmonious union ;" and because that vote was carried to its issue in 
the ex parte dismission of the minister, on their own showing, as the 



124 

ex parte council declared, in view of ** long-continued difRculties," and 
by those who had been ** dissatisfied with the preaching and measures " 
of the pastor. 

Thus, then, failing their agreement, they are not members of the 
church, to which, by that agreement, they were admitted. The band 
by which the council bound them to us does not embrace them. Either 
they did not allow it to go around them at the first, or they have slipped 
it since. Not having complied with their agreement in the oblivion of 
all past grievances, they are not members, according to that agree- 
ment. 

To take the illustration of a business partnership, — not having paid 
in their promised capital, they are not members of our firm. They 
are not entitled to the rights and privileges of partners; and we are 
not compelled to the hazards and losses of a partnership thus one-sided, 
and virtually annulled. We are not required to abide by the condi- 
tions, on our part, after they have refused them on their part. The ob- 
ligations were mutual, and are not binding on us, unless fulfilled by 
them. Their refusal sets us at liberty, and makes the agreement of 
re-union, December 20, null and void ; while that refusal itself, and 
their claim to act for us and against us, as if they were the whole firm 
itself into which they came, requires us to refuse that fellowship with 
them which we would willingly have accorded, had they remained reg- 
ularly constituted as a sister church 

True, we preferred not to assume this independent judgment, and, 
on the vote of February 23, chose rather to submit the case, under the 
intimation of our judgment thereon, to«i mutual council, to which we 
knew the final appeal must lie. By implication, our correspondence re- 
ferred, in like manner, the vote of March 1. And even after the refusal 
of this reasonable offer, we still preferred a reference to a council called 
on our own part, under the hope that they would, according to the 
arrangement we proposed, make it mutual. Instead of this, while these 
diffident and kindly proposals were before them, they proceeded to act 
in the name of the church, at once, as if entitled to more than an equal 
share of its rights and privileges, and in violation of the agreement by 
which alone they had any title at all; to the sacrifice of all our inter- 
ests, as we stood when that agreement was made — of the very interests 
which that agreement did literally and definitely protect ! And those 
interests would have been sacrificed altogether, had not we refused to 
allow the validity of their proceedings — had not we repudiated and dis- 
allowed their doings from beginning to end. Within less than four 
months from the time of their re-admission on the agreement that all 
past grievances were considered as settled, the minister was declared 
dismissed, on the ground of those grievances, at their instance pro- 
ceeding from the vote of March I the ex parte council making 

their decision on the ground of " long-continued difficulties," and re- 
garding those who "had been dissatisfied with his preaching and 
measures." .... And nothing has prevented his actual dismission, 
against the wishes of the great mass of the church and congregation, 
but pur right and necessary stand, at once against the jurisdiction of 
the ex parte council, and the right and title of these members to insti- 
tute these proceedings at all — our decisive saying,. " You are not mem- 
bers." 



125 

In reference to our offer of a mutual council, and the whole course 
of proceedings since, let me again refer, for illustration, to a business 
partnership. 'IMieir drafts continued, while we were diffidently and 
kindly proffering an arbitration, on their refusal to pay in, according 
to the terms of partnership, would have utterly ruined our firm — would 
have made us bankrupt, if, at the moment of impending ruin, we had 
not discerned and asserted our right — if we had not locked our strong- 
box, refused to answer their drafts, and publicly declared that no part- 
nership existed between us ; .... if we had not said, " You have not 
paid in your promised ten thousand, now, after four months, and you 
are not partners in our firm." .... You promised the oblivion of all 
past grievances, and, instead thereof, have remembered ihem with a 
witness ; have spread them out before the ex parte council and the 
world, and have obtained a decree thereon, which, if it could, would 
accomplish the very ruin, against which the terms of admission did 
especially protect us. At this point, it was time to stop talking of ar- 
bitrations, of mutual councils; and, falling back upon the terms of re- 
union, and upon our original right of self-preservation, to say, '* You 
are not partners; you are not members of our church ;" and to leave it 
to you whenever you shall see cause, to appeal us to a tribunal which 
shall judge betwixt us. 

In assuming the right to make this decision, I have to remark on 
the assertion which has been made on their part, that, according to 
their understandings the agreement before council, December 20, had 
no reference at all to the old grievances with the preaching and pro- 
cedure of the pastor. 

1. If possible, be it so. What then? You did not understand that 
you were to pay in ten thousand in order to entitle you to the rights 
and privileges of our firm. You did not, but we did. If, on your 
understanding, you claim, without payment, to take equal charge of 
our property with ourselves; on our understanding, we claim that you 
shall not. Suppose there were a misunderstanding, and you thought 
you were to become full and equal partners, without paying any thing; 
are we obliged to hazard all our interests when we understood the 
direct contrary? Are we bound to abide by your understanding, any 

more than you are to abide by our understanding If you claim to 

come in and disturb our condition, and destroy our interests as they 
were on your admission, we, on our understanding, have at least equal 

right to deny you the liberty to do so If you claim to make us 

bankrupt, on ymir understanding, we, on ours, have equal right to pro- 
tect ourselves from bankruptcy— to secure the condition of privilege 
and usefulness in which you found us Admit a difference of un- 
derstanding, and all you can ask is to break up the bargain; or, at 
most, what we offered and urged at the first, that the question be refer- 
red to the judges We began with this proposition of diffidence 

and kindness — indicating, and yet submitting our judorment. But 
while we practiced this Christian delay, you had well nigh managed 
our concerns to our ruin ; until, at length, we say, in word and deed, 
•' We are not partners; you are not members of our firm ; you do not 
belong to our church;" awaiting now, your appeal, if you think 
you have cause, to the proper tribunal, to adjudge between us on this 
strange and unaccountable misunderstanding. 
17 



126 

2. We cannot conceive a misunderstanding possible. Let the case 
be stated as we see it. 

The only grievance, for ten years, which had been named, was the 
preaching and procedure of the pastor The council of 1840 de- 
cided that these grievances were groundless, but allowed the dismission 
for the sake of peace. . . . The council, December 20, 184'3, re-ad milted 
them on the agreement that all past grievances were considered as set- 
tled That agreement was taken, word for word, from a paper 

read by the pastor an hour before, and was marked off by him pub- 
licly, as a clause to prevent all misunderstanding, and was copied by 
the moderator, and put into the hands of the parties to the agreement. 
The paper from which this uniting clause was taken was scrupulously 
and laboriously, was even repetitiously explicit, requiring, in express 
words and in varied forms, that "the original grievances with the 
preaching and procedure of the pastor be considered as settled," and 
that "all church action on old grievances should be impossible." — p. 87. 

And now let it be asked, is it possible, can it bethought possible by 
that great assembly before whom, as some of them styled it, this mar- 
riage agreement was made — is it possible that an agreement made at 
the end of ten years of grievances, that all past grievances are consid- 
ered as settled, can be understood as leaving unsettled and open the 
only grievances which had ever been named — which the whole town 
and country round had rung with for ten years? Is it possible that 
the agreement on which they are received can regard all past griev- 
ances, and yet leave out the very grievances on which they were dis- 
missed ? — that the agreement before the uniting council of 1843 can 
leave out the grievances before the dismissing council of 1840, when 
the aggriever was still pastor, and still preaching and proceeding as 
before? .... Nay, that an agreement taken from the lips of the ag- 
grieving party himself should declare all past grievances settled, and at 
the same time leave out himself, the pastor, the aggriever, proposing 
the terms of agreement before a crowded assembly ? — and, lastly, that 
an agreement taken from an elaborate and careful paper, which the 
pastor laid before council, to prevent all misunderstanding on the very 
point at issue, should be considered as leaving out the very grievances 
which the paper itself declared, explicitly and repetitiously, must be 
considered as settled ? Was ever any thing so childish and absurd — 
unless we might rather be compelled to ask — was ever any thing so 
dishonorable and dishonest, as the suggestion that the grievances with 
the preaching and procedure of the pastor were not regarded at all in 
the agreement before council, December 20, 1843? 

Indeed, I might insist upon still earlier obligations, as was suggested 
by me in the second resolution, laid before the church, September 8, 
1843. Their application itself, to be received into the church while 
the pastor they forsook was stil in charge, and after their grievances 
had been declared groundless, and their dismission allowed only for 
the sake of peace — their application made to the church as it was, 
with only kind and confiding expressions, without one word of refer- 
ence to past grievances, must of course require the only inference, if 
they be honest and Christian men, that they arewiilincr to re-unite with 
ns as they find us ; and that they are not coming to disturb the peace, 
for the sake of which they were permitted to withdraw. And in the 



127 

resolutions proposed by me, September 8, I did not dare allow myself to 
require the explicit understanding wliicli I thought the case demanded, 
until I had stated this fair inference, the omission of which might have 
been justly considered a reproach. 

Such is the case between myself, as the pastor of this church, and 
also all those who agree with me in judgment, and the sixteen 
brethren to whom I have refused co-action and fellowship; and in this 
refusal do I stand, as becomes the executive officer of the church, if I 
will maintain the things which are true, and honest, and just, and 
lovely, and of good report. In making this stand, of course, as I have 
said in another paper, the question of the dismission of the minister, I 
do not regard as the matter of a straw, in comparison with the vital 
questions which are h#e regarded. I am well aware that, in making 
this stand — in declaring, as 1 have done, that 1 have no expectation or 
intention of ever administering to them again in their present position — 
I am rendering my dismission, as nearly as possible, unavoidable. 
Judging from the proceedings of councils generally, I have almost no 
reason to expect that they will sustain me in the execution of a decis- 
ion which thus threatens to rend this ancient church And yet, if 

my points are right, on them, without fear, I ought to be sustained, 
though I make this fearful stand. The ancient church of Wareham 
cannot prosper if these points be right, and are yet set at nought. Of 
churches, as well as individuals, it may be asked, Who is he that shall 
harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 

In Council^ September 24, 1844. 

The council provided for in the parish vote of April 29, being met, 
the following paper was introduced 

To the Reverend Pastors and Brethren of the Ecclesiastical Council 
now in session in the town of Wareham : Reverend and Beloved, - It 
may be interesting to you to ascertain whether or not the church under, 
the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Nott is represented in the convoking 
of this council; a.Qd, with this view, we state that we are not aware 
that it is so represented. 

On a Lord's day, Mr. Nott gave notice that there would be a meeting 
of the church, or some of the church, the exact terms of which were 
not well understood. The greater part of the church assembled at the 
time and place appointed ; when it appeared that, out of twenty-five 
brethren present, he wished for the vote or opinion of eight brethren 
only; and thereupon the residue retired into the seats farther back. A 
vote was taken, including the eight brethren only, which related to the 
convocation of this council. This is all which the majority of the 
church know of any concurrence of the church in calling this 
council. 

SiLVANus Bourne, \ Committee of the persons 
Benjamin F raring, > composing a majority 
Abisha Barrows, j of the Church. 

Mr. Nott replied that the matters referred to would be suffi- 
ciently explained in the papers which he proposed to lay before coun- 



128 

cil. All that need be remarked at this time was the strange contradic- 
tion of this paper to other documents from the same source, assuming 
that the church is not under his pastoral care. Mr. Nott proceeded to 
read. 

September 25. 

During the proceedings of this day, the following paper was pre- 
sented 



To the Pastors and Delegates assembled in Wareham in JEcclesias- 
tical Council : Reverend and Beloved, — We have informed you that 
the church in this place have had no offer to joi#the Rev. Mr. Nott in 
ecclesiastical council, and that they had no voice in selecting this 
council. 

We ask leave, further, to say that, in the opinion of the church, Rev. 
Mr. Nott was dismissed from his pastoral charge several months since, 
in pursuance of the votes of the parish and the church, by an ecclesi- 
astical council fully competent to act in that matter, and whose result 
was accepted by the church ; and that, by compromise with the gen- 
tlemen of the parish, we consented that the pastoral relation should con- 
tinue to give the parish time to notify Mr. Nott of the dissolution of the 
contract in. a manner to end all controversy. We do not think the par- 
ish intended to leave the subject of that dissolution an open question ; 
and we think the most disastrous consequences will follow by disre- 
garding the compromise. 

The undersigned are a committee of the church to act on this occa- 
sion, chosen at a meeting notified in the usual manner by Mr. Nott; 
but as he and the mmority did not attend, we, in our former commu- 
nication, designated ourselves as a committee of the majority of the 
church. 

We only add, that, notwithstanding the reasons for Mr. Nott's dis- 
mission are decisive and satisfactory, and his own welfare and the 
welfare of the church call for it; yet, as we cannot acknowledge this 
council to be assembled by the authority of the church, we feel bound 
not to appear and be heard before them as parties on the present oc- 
casion. 

SiLVANus Bourne, 
Benjamin Fearing, 
Abisha Barrows. 



Conclusion by Mr, Nott, after reading Documents before Council, Sep- 
tember 25, 1844. 

You have now the case before you, and have to decide, it seems to 
me, as follows : 

1. On the merits of the case, and that whether you dismiss or retain. 
The first questions are .... Have the preaching and procedure of the 
pastor been so far true and scriptural, and also the position in which 
he now holds himself, as fairly to entitle him to hold place as a Chris- 
tian pastor somewhere 1 or ar^ they such that he is not entitled thus 



129 

to hold place anywhere ? You cannot retain or dismiss without this 
judgment on the merits of the case. If you dismiss, you must, of 
course, decide how far you can recommend — whether without or with 
exceptions, or not at all. 

2. Admitting that I am found worthy, as I hope, to hold place as a 
Christian minister somewhere, you will then have to decide whether 
there be any sufficient reasons of expediency which require or allow 
you to dismiss me from my present charge. 

I now ask a decision, first, on the merits of the case — a decision 

definite, explicit, distinct I ask no favor Do your duty as 

becomes a Christian council, whatever you do with me I only 

ask, — Be definite, explicit, distinct Blame, condemn, dismiss, and 

even silence, if you see cause, but declare exactly for what. ... On 
the very points at issue, declare me guilty or not guilty. Be as defi- 
nite, as explicit, as distinct, as the civil courts are required to be. . . . 

Meet the very counts of the indictment Nothing can be worse 

for the pastor, for this church and people, and for all the churches, 
than a half and half verdict. Condemn or acquit, I beseech you, on the 
very matters in question. My preaching and procedure, and my pres- 
ent remarkable position, are before you most clearly, and they must be 
true and scriptural in your view, or otherwise ; and all I ask is your 
definite, explicit, distinct declaration, as plain as words can make it, 
that I am, or am not, worthy to hold place as a Christian pastor some- 
where. I may say 1 claim it at your hands This church and 

people ask it — claim it at your hands. If you find me guilty on some 
counts, and innocent on others, then let us have a declaration with 
exceptions, that 1 am worthy to hold place as a Christian pastor, ex- 
cept so far as you see cause to condemn either my preaching or proce- 
dure, or the position that I hold ; and then your declaration will prove 
a guide and aid to this church and people, and to all the churches. 

I make this earnest request because I have so often known ecclesias- 
tical councils to make indistinct, I may rather say inconsistent, decis- 
ions, at once affirming and denying, commending and condemning — 
sending forth a minister at once with testimonials of worthiness and 
unworihiness. Why, sir, the so called result of council, April 15, 
which has been laid before you, declares me dismissed as a minister of 
undoubted piety and talents, and sends me forth to be more useful 
somewhere else, and yet brands me with the reproach of breaking a 
promise which I had solemnly made — with a fault for which, if they 
had been an authorized court, they ought to have excluded me from 
the Christian ministry altogether ; as, in that case, I had excluded my- 
self from the character of a man of integrity and honor There 

are cases less gross than this, which I hope will not be a pattern of 
your result ; as when the minister is cleared on the great matters in 
question, but under those exceptions of mere human infirmities such as 
belong to our common nature, as belonged to St. Paul from the very 
first, and which belong neither to the general nor special inquiry be- 
fore an ecclesiastical council I shall never profess, so long as I 

am clothed with the infirmities of the flesh, so long as I bear the treas- 
ure of the gospel in an earthen vessel, to be a faultless man — to have 
attained that point which, I trust, is my daily aim. But I beg you to 



130 

remember that the question is on the faults before you — on such faults, 
not as I must have in common with Elias and St. Paul themselves, but 
such as would render me unworthy of my office. Remembering this, 
let your verdict be exact, as you would expect and desire yourselves, 
and render no judgment on me because I also am a man. When the 
question is on murder or larceny, there is no occasion for the judg- 
ment that the prisoner at the bar has the same liability to anger and 

covetousness as belong to every other man No doubt, if you 

do but guess, you may fairly say that, " from the very first, I have 
preached the gospel through infirmity of the flesh," and that, '* even 
when I was received here as an angel of God ; " but that is not the 
question before this council; but whether my preaching and procedure, 
long complained of, and at length brought before you for judgment, 
and whether my present position, are such that I am fairly entitled to 
hold place somewhere as a Christian pastor. I pray you decide this 
question, and leave others. This church, of course, is entitled to your 

decision ; the churches are entitled to it I am entitled to it. 

Protect this church, and all the churches, from an unworthy ministry, 
if your protection is required. Protect 772 e from undeserved reproach — . 
from undeserved ejectment from this church, and all the churches, if I- 
ought to be protected. I ask you, then, of course, as an ecclesiastical 
council to find, in the first place, that my preaching and procedure, 
and my position taken, are such as to give me fair and full title to hold 
place in the churches as a Christian pastor ; and, if not, then to find 
the reverse, or to make exact exceptions to whatever letters of credit 
you may give me. 

It were most devoutly to be wished that you might be able to make 
a clear case in my favor ; that you might find a minister fully deserv- 
ing your sanction to his whole doctrine, procedure, and conduct; who, 
amidst the difficulties of many years, has held quietly, steadfastly, 
faithfully, a righteous course; around whom,. as a Christian pastor, a 
community might be at rest, though all the winds of disturbance should 
blow upon them. I will not say I am such a minister; but that I have 
made the humble, earnest attempt to be such a minister, I do claim. 
Happy if, after due examination, you can say I am entitled to hold 
place anywhere as a Christian pastor. 

3. Admitting my preaching and procedure, and my present extreme 
position, to be such as to give me fair title to hold place as a Christian 
minister, somewhere, you will then have to inquire whether the dissat- 
isfaction brought before you in the vote of the parish does, in its pres- 
ent extreme state, require my dismission. In a word; the question of 
expediency will be before you. 

And, first, let me assure this council, what they must already sup- 
pose, that I feel no personal interest in the decision of this question. 
You must see plainly, I trust, that I have endeavored to do my duty, 
without regard to events — but, at any rate, that I have put myself in a 
position where, if I allowed myself to have a choice, according to hu- 
man foresight at all, it must certainly be dismission. I see, of course, 
no pleasant prospect, if you sustain me I am not, indeed, hope- 
less that my brethren, after such decision on your part, may see their 
error, and retrace their steps. I believe in God. But, after having ^ 



131 

watched their course for many years, I am well aware that, according 

to human foresight, such hope is against hope And if it is not 

fulfilled in answer to my earnest prayers, then, of course, if I am left 
in charge, I must expect still further and still more urgent agitation. 
Mere human foresigiit does not assure me that 1 can maintain, with 
ease and comfort the position which I believe it will be my duty to 
maintain, if you leave me in charge; rather it warns me that painful 
agitations will end in dismission. 

With these anticipations of dismission, according to contract, at no 
distant date, if I am sustained, you must see that I might well regard 
dismission as a personal relief .... Nevertheless, this is not the prin- 
ciple on which I have pursued life hitherto — to allow myself to shrink 
from difficulties in the path of duty. I trust I shall not be suffered to 
begin now to allow myself to consult my personal feelings — certainly 
not my poor foresight in this matter. I verily believe that I am in the 
path of duty .... that I have been in it; that I began my course in 
Wareham under a deep consciousness, in the expectation, that it would 
bring me into trouble, unless God should see fit to deHver me from my 
fears; and that, up to the last crowning act, 1 have been in the path of 
duly ; and, of course, I believe that you ought, as a Christian council, 
to sustain me in it. 1 cannot, I dare not, ask you to spare me the 

trials which I anticipate, if I am sustained I see the difficulty of 

my position, I presume, more clearly, more painfully, than any mem- 
ber of this council does or can — so clearly and painfully that my only 
comfort in the prospect is, that which I have found hitherto in those 
scripture maxims, which have seemed to sustain me from 1834 — **Who 
is he that shall harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good ? " 
" Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, 
because he trusteth in thee." .... Do your duty, and 1 hope to i nd 
grace to abide my lot 

Having thus declared my wish not to have my personal interests or 
comfort regarded, I come to the question of expediency. If J am wor- 
thy to be a minister anywhere, then do I believe it inexpedient to dis- 
miss me from Wareham ; and that you ought to leave me in place, at 
least until I am removed by an absolute six months' notice, according 
to the provision, for reasons of expediency, in the contract itself; or 
until the questions at issue shall have been appealed to a mutual coun- 
cil ; or until far other causes exist than any which have been brought 
before you 

In the first place, the question of expediency is provided for amply, 
and, as I believe, too amply, in the terms of settlement. Surely the 
privilege of ending the relation by a six months' notice whenever the 
parish find the difficulty of retaining too great, is provision enough for 
expediency, and you may fairly say that dismission cannot be expedi- 
ent until the parish, without asking council, find it expedient to give 

the notice, which is in their own power Whenever the parish 

cannot provide the supplies without too great a burden, no doubt they 
will avail themselves of the way of escape provided at the beginning. 
In this matter it seems to me this council should leave the parish to 
themselves, under the just impression that they will know best when 
they need to be eased from their burdens ; that they will probably seek 
relief, according to contract, quite as soon as they ought. 



132 

It may be well, before leaving this point, to call attention to the 
actual facts. According to the statement in my letter to the parish, 
May, 1843, when the supplies were raised by a return to subscription, 
there was raised considerably more than the average need, for the year 
1842. At that meeting a subscription was made on the spot for 1843, 
which exceeded the average need, and was considerably increased 
afterwards. At the meeting, April 29, 1844, the parish declare that 
seven-eighths of the parish are in favor of the pastor's continuing in 
charge, and, of course, leaving the presumption that the prospects re- 
main not less favorable than in the preceding years; while, owing to 
the new movement of calling this council, the matter has not been 
tested this year by the usual subscription. 

At this point a question occurs of some consequence, namely, on the 
competence of the proper legal parish itself .... And here it is to be 
admitted that the legal parish, as it stands this day, does not afford a 
perfect view of the actual state of the people who are, in point of fact, 
concerned in the question of dismissing the pastor. After many infor- 
malities, much leaving things at loose ends, and then endeavoring to 
put all things in right shape again; and, after some withdrawings, I 
suppose that the actual legal members of the parish are less than one 
half of those who virtually belong to this congregation, and are the 

supporters of this institution If the question now were, what is 

the proportion of this larger number who may be calculated upon in 
sustaining the present pastor, I answer, in the first place, I am not 
concerned to decide. All I ask is, that you leave them to decide, and 
to give, or not give, their absolute six months, as they shall be com- 
pelled, or have a mind, after the attempt. And, in the second place, 
that, by all the evidence yet afforded, they will have no difficulty in the 
matter The only test made this summer is as follows : Prepara- 
tory to a settlement with me, provided I should be dismissed on the 
29th of October, an assessment has been made, to be referred to the 
good -will of the people, on 161 individuals. From that list, I have 
been informed that a selection has been made of those who are sup- 
posed to wish the dismission of the pastor, by one of their own num- 
ber, who takes the charge of collecting from them. That list, I am 

informed, consists of 21 persons out of the 161 assessed These 

21, I suppose, embrace the eleven admitted by council, December 20; 
and, if these numbers be any true guide, it would leave just 10 out of 
this large community who wished the dismission of the pastor previous 

to the re-union If this showing be at all correct, I may well say 

the parish do not need your protection in the matter. If the legal and 
responsible parish consist of but fifty or sixty persons, and if under the 
alarm connected with such aff'airs, they become fewer still, they will 
find still sufficient aid, so long as the great mass of the community are 
disposed to aid them. And if it should come to pass — as no doubt it 
may — that some thirty parishioners should at last find themselves de- ■ 
serted by the community, why, all the burden they will have to bear 
will be just one six months, and no more; while my character, I am 
certain, cannot fail to assure them that, whenever they are compelled 
to bear a burden that they would think insupportable, they would find 
a friend who would consent at the instant to read six minutes instead 
of six months. I pray you to leave the question of expediency where it 



133 

was put in 1S29. That question is already amply, and, in my opinion, 
too amply, provided for; and that is the reason why 1 have always re- 
fused to refer the question of expediency to council. The parish, as 
in the present instance, have, no doubt, a perfect right to ask council 
whether they shall use their right from expediency. .... All that I 
consent to in this council, in return for certain advantages which I 
think their vote orives me, is, that your judgment, if given for my dis- 
mission, shall take effect six months from the date of their vote, instead 
of six months from the date of your decision. 

As to the reason, — tiie minister's usefulness is over, here; he may be 
more useful some where else — 1 might* claim the testimonials again 
and again appearing in the documents — that 1 have conducted myself 
with such Christian kindness and integrity as to have created no mere 
personal hindrances; and crown them all with the words of an 
old friend, who yet, somehow or other, has suffered himself to become 
at length, one of the sixteen, who is credibly reported to have said, 
within ten days, •' They have tried all they could to find something 
against Mr. Nott, and they can't find any thing if they should die." I 
say, I might claim these testimonials, as a proof that, if I am worthy to 
be a minister anywhere, my usefulness is not, cannot be, over, here. 
.... Admit that it is so — that I am, as stated by one of the sixteen 
before council, December 20, so friendly to every man that no man 
can be unfriendly to me; admit that, passing through difficulties which 
are the highest trials of temper and character, my Master has enabled 
me in the humblest degree to imitate his blessed example; admit, further, 
that my preaching and procedure, and the position which 1 have taken, 
are such that you allow me worthy to hold place some where; and then 
I beg to ask if I am not at the very highest point of my usefulness 
here? even — however far I fall short of those ancient examples — as were 
Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego, though they had provoked against 
them the king and all the great men of Babylon 1 We have had too 
rnur.h worldly policy in our care of churches. Whatever trouble 1 may 
suffer thereby, I beg you not to dismiss me from Wareham, with your 
approbation of my doctrine, course, and character, because my useful- 
ness is over, here. 

Again, in my judgment, you are not to dismiss/or the sake of peace. 
It is not expedient that you should attempt to make peace by discharg- 
ing a fair and right minister if seven-eighths, if 140 out of 160 are sat- 
isfied with his ministry; nor would it be if any fair and good majority 
were. Strange method to make peace — which increases the probabil- 
ity of contention, just as much as the numbers dissatisfied with that 
strange attempt are more than those for whose sake it was made ! 
Besides, as I need not discuss, w'/m^/?e«ce is there worth having, unless 
the fruit of righteousness is sown in it 1 unless by it you make right- 
eousness to flourish ; unless you seek it in a judgment according to 
the merits of the case ? Dismissions for the sake of peace ! How wont 
to be themselves the seeds of strife ! How wont to succeed each other 
so rapidly, that our communities, in the progress, scarce know what it is 
to have one year's rest; in which no earnest attempt is made to disturb 
the quiet attendance on divine institutions ! 

You may ask, then. Do I expect peace, if you leave me in charge? 
I have answered that question for substance already. And I answer 
18 



134 

again, — So far as my poor foresight goes, I confess I do not ; and be- 
ing a man of quiet temper, I have a thousand times felt the wish to be 

out of the conflict. That wish is not utterly subdued yet 1 know 

well that the great mass of this community, standing around a minister 
whom I verily believe the whole community value and respect, these 
malcontents among the rest, if they cpuld but get rid of him — I say I 
verily believe that the great mass of this community might have peace, 
would they simply say, •' We are not to be moved from our purpose ; 
seven-eighths ought not to forsake a fair minister for one-eighth; 
neither are we going to contend." Could these two points be settled, 
and seem settled, our Warehdm agitations would be at an end. .... 
Any ten men, and, for aught I know, any two men, can keep a com- 
munity in constant agitation, if they will allow themselves to be agi- 
tated ; but if they will unite the two qualities of firmness and kindness, 
then the two or the ten, will find themselves as powerless as though they 
were blowing with a bellows on the surface of the calm and placid 
lake. 

True, we have causes here that may make us fearful, that my human 
foresight declares are fearful, judging the future from the past. No 
doubt you have marked these bare poles under which your delibera- 
tions are carried on. I know not how much longer they may remain 
bare, or what troubles may arise in connection with the repair which I 
believe is at length in progress, unless you dismiss the minister; for I 
remember well the predictions on that score which were openly made 
under the stroke of the divine hand on the 20th October last. There 
is another matter which, it may be feared, will trouble us, and, for 

aught I know, bring us into the civil courts We have a fund of 

some four thousand dollars, which belonged originally to the parochial 
town of Wareham, which, since new organizations, has been for the 
use of the First Parish, the regular and undisputed successor and 
inheritor of that parochial town ; but this fund has just now been put 
in dispute, and is held in abeyance, on the declaration that it belongs 
to the town, and all religious institutions therein proportionally, be 
they ever so many 1 And, unless there is a great misapprehension, the 
surest way to put this matter at rest is to dismiss the minister ; and 
then there will be at least some twenty more persons who will be per- 
fectly satisfied that no future attempt should be made to alienate the 
fund from its course hitherto. 

And yet once more, if you do not dismiss me, the next step, on the 
part of our new church organization, will naturally be, to give me notice 
that I am no longer to occupy thdr pulpit; and then begins, of course, 
on one or the other part, a trespass that must needs bring these whole 
matters before the civil tribunals 

Whatever may be to be feared on these accounts, at least there is one 
terrific prospect before us. I am under the .solemn declaration that I 
neither intend nor expect to have co-action or fellowship with sixteen, 
so long as matters remain as they are. I renew that declaration now 
before you. On no other ground can I remain as pastor ; and, if you 
leave me in charge, I espect and intend to proceed immediotcly in the 
regular cuur^e^ refusing to admit them to co-action and flhwship until 
they shall either acknoioledge their error and retrace their steps, or ap- 
peal me to the mutual council^ which must decide between us : and I eon- 



135 

fess the prospect is not of peace, save that I hope to be peaceful, through 
the aid of the very God of peace himself 

.... It is at tliis point — a dispute likely to occur in regard to the 
repair of the meeting-house — litigation threatened in regard to the pa- 
rochial fund — the very pulpit itself in danger of being dragged before 
the bench — and the minister refusing fellowship wiih nearly half the 
male members of his church — that some have come to think and say, 

The minister cannot stay Things have now come to such a pass 

that he must be dismissed, however small the opposition numerically. 
.... And yet, at this very point, with all my own personal fears, I say, 
In my judgment he ought to stay : you ought to leave him, and trust 
Providence to bring forth his righteousness as the light, and his just 
dealing as the noonday. 

I know that the position of refusal in which I stand, the stand-point 
I have taken, seems to render my further stay impossible. But why so, 
if that stand-point be right, and if there be a God whose prerogative it 
is to aid the right? Cannot stay? Do not say so, if my course and 
stand-point be right. He that makes day and night, summer and win- 
ter, calm and storm, can do more, and does more, than we can ask or 
think. " Why sayest thou, my way is hid from the Lord, and my 
judgment passed over from my God." Cannot stay ? Why we could 
stay, and did stay, though the government of all India and all I.eaden- 
hall street arrayed themselves against us.* .... If my course and my 
stand-points are right, leave me lohere I am, not doubting that God can 
overrule and aid, until his blessing on us shall make all Warcham and 
all the churches around us to rejoice. 

But there is another thing to be taken account of before you dismiss 
the pastor for the sake of peace: I mean the state in which the two 
self-styled chiirches will be left, sixteen members having protested 
against sixteen members, for a vote " unrighteous and disgraceful — a 
foul blot upon the records of Wareham, which they look upon with 
shame and abhorrence." 

Since that protest, the vote was carried out under their sanction by 
an unauthorized and illegal council, in the unauthorized and illegal 
declaration of the dismission of the pastor; and, to crown the whole, 
these sixteen have organized themselves, and assumed to take charge 
of the preaching and ordinances as the church, while every one of the 
protesters have in practice repudiated their proceedings; and though, 
as yet, they have had no call to act, in reference to the position which 
the pastor has taken; it may fairly be presumed that, though he should 
be dismissed, they also would refuse all co-action and fellowship, and 
claim that they themselves are the true church of Wareham, thus re- 
quiring what the pastor requires — acknowledgment and retraction, or 
a reference to the Churches. It is useless to say, or to think, that disr 
mission would settle these affairs. Dismission is the matter of a straw; 
but the matters contained in those protests are not to be measured by 

all things of earth and time If you see the matter as I do, yo4 

will not leave the church without a pastor, in the expectation that 
these two divisions will flow together like two drops of water. Rather, 
since it exists, you will not deprive them of the advantages they must 

* See p. 3^. 



136 

find in having an officer in charge, who understands the whole affair, 
and who, 1 trust, has given some proof of the two qualities indispen- 
sible for the case — firmness and kindness. 

There is also a natural question with regard to the action of the 
parish, in the circumstances which are likely to occur after the dismis- 
sion. By special agreement referred to in the pewdeeds, the church 
can neither settle nor dismiss ministers without a majority of the par- 
ish consenting. When the pulpit is vacant, however, they have the 
entire charge, the parish having no action in the case until the church 
make a call. If one may believe what has been floating in report long 
enough to entitle it to consideration at least, when this minister is dis- 
missed, it will be a long while before the new rulers will attempt to 
settle another — a long while before the parish will have any voice at 
all in determining who shall be those stated supplies which every six 

months or year may introduce In such a state of things, you had 

better leave matters where they are until the parish can decide on the 

dismission without council If they want council the time is not 

yet. 

And yet one word more in regard to the parish. There is a special 
reason why this council should not dismiss — I mean the manner in 
which the vote of April 29 has been brought about — the injustice you 
will encourage thereby. I will make myself understood by an instance 

in matters of property Suppose, then, that Mr. A., without any 

rightful claim whatever, demands possession of Mr. Z.'s house, and ac- 
companies the demand by a course of proceedings which issue in turn- 
ing Mr. Z. into the street, Mr. A. pretending to take immediate pos- 
session, as the legal owner of the property Having carried mat- 
ters thus far, and while Mr. Z. is somewhat disturbed and puzzled by 
such strange work, Mr. A. suddenly changes his whole manner; and, 
coming up to Mr. Z., speaks to him in the kindest manner possible, 
and declares his utmost readiness to accommodate the affair. '* Just 
take possession of your house again, Mr. Z., and live in it a whole six 
months ! and then leave it and give me a clear deed, and I'll say no 
more about the matter." This proposition seems rather hard to Mr. 
Z., and yet, strange to tell, he concludes to ask advice, and to hold 
his own, or give it up at the end of six months, accordingly. 

No doubt this Mr. Z. made the greatest mistake in the world, when 
he was frightened into that singular concession, and put it in any 
body's power to alienate his own property. What will you think of 
his advisers, when they come together and examine the whole busi- 
ness, if they should make the award — that Mr. Z., at the close of 
six months, shall leave the house, and give a clear deed to Mr. A, sim- 
ply because Mr. A. turned him out of doors at the beginning of it ! If 
this case become a precedent, men must look to their houses. There- 
after unrighteousness will only need to do violence, and then timidity 
will yield the house, and authorize the deed ! The parable needs no 
interpretation, 

But there are larger views of expediency. If you start the question 
of expediency at all, you must look farther than Wareham. 

Is it expedient for all parishes and nil churches that thpse worldly- 
minded dismissions for expediency should be any longer advised, and 
thus made precedents for more ; and that the ^rime questions of right- 



137 

eousness and truth should be made secondary ? .... Is it expedient 
that your decision should encourage the two or three to grow to the 
ten, or twelve, and then again to a score, in the assurance that, at 
length, tiieir own unpeacefulness shall become the ground of a dismis- 
sion? that small minorities can make theuiselves secure of ejecting 
the ministry, because they will not allow large majorities to be at rest'.' 
... It is said, I know, that any one man, or two men, can get a minister 
dismissed if they set about it with the intention never to give up till they 
accomplish their purpose. Is it expedient for this council to justify 
that ecclesiastical proverb, and to help it into a rule for the churches 
and parishes of New England 1 

Is it expedient for the Congregational ists of New England to adopt 
the method of an itinerajit ministry, and give up that permanency 
which their fathers bequeathed to them ? Nay, is it expedient to adopt 
itinerancy in its very worst form — not that comparatively harmless itin- 
erancy of the Methodists — annual or biennial changes on a regular 
plan — but changes irregular and contentious, of a ministry as constant- 
ly disliked and discarded as liked and received, such as we are fast 
making our own ? 

Again, is it expedient to put aside all your elder ministry, and in- 
trust all the interests of the church to young and still younger hands, 
instead of keeping up the natural proportions of age, middle age, and 
youth, in which God has provided for the beautiful harmony of his 
church? What am I to do, if you dismiss me? I certainly do not 
despair of finding place again, and fulfilling my part, if life be spared, 
among the elder pastors of the land. But if the churches act in any 
consistency with the decree which at once discharges and recommends 
me, I shall soon be where my respected predecessor is — a dismissed 
minister of Wareham, obliged to become a farmer and a schoolmaster, 
rather than ** deny the faith, and be worse than an infidel ;" and there 
will be two aged pastors the less, because councils are so ready to advise 

the dismission of ministers for expediency Is it expedient that you 

give another precedent, which goes to exclude pastors from their place 
in the church, at the most fruitful period of their lives, and to give 
over the whole work of the ministry into youthful hands? 

There is yet another question, which, before I close, I will ask — a 
question not regarding my interest, or the interests of the church and 
people of Wareham, or of all the churches — but the interest of the sii.- 
teen brethren, who, proceeding from step to step, and gradually accu- 
mulating in number — did, after ten years, at length effect the nominal 
distnission of the minister, in April last, in connection with the vote of 
March I, and who did assume, on the 24th of April, to take charge of 
the pulpit and ordinances, as if the minister were really dismissed; — 
and I ask, is it expedient for them that you dismiss me to-day ? that 
you enable them to carry a point with your sanction, which they could 
not carry without it, even after they had gained the sanction of nine 
churches in ex parte council ? 

Now, I will presume, in asking this question, that, if you dismiss 
me, it must be with your commendation of me as a true and faithful 
minister, worthy to hold office somewhere, as having lived in great dif- 
ficulty for ten years, so rightly and kindly, aa to leave the great mass 
of the people in my favor — under the conviction that, when the docu- 



138 

ments laid before this council shall be added to my other publications, 
the whole exhibition of doctrine, conduct, and character must stand 
approved by the public and by posterity; and thus presuming, I ask, 
/*• it expedient fur these sixteen brethren that you dismiss me ? What! 
can it be for their interest, for their comfort, for their honor, that you 
give the finishing stroke to their unrighteous vote and proceedings ; 
on this only ground that they will give the people no rest until their de- 
sire is accomplished? and that, too, against a man who has ever sought 
their good, and has never inflicted on them any other wounds than 
those of a faithful friend and pastor? 

Is it for their interest that you will do this? — for their comfort and 
honor during the few brief years they may have to live ; or will it give 
a sweet savor to their names when they are dead, in years and ages to 
come ? If I live a few years longer, and fulfil my office as becomes an 
aged minister of Christ somewhere; and if, when I die, the principles 
and practices of my ministry shall live after me, proving even the smalU 
est seeds of increase in the religious prosperity of New England, Amer- 
ica, and the world, — will it be any advantage to them now or hereafter, 
to have cast me out ? . . . . Will it be for the credit of Wareham to have 
allowed it, and — I say it with all respect — will it be for your own 
credit to have given it your high sanction ? 

Result. 

Wareham, September 24, 1844. 

In compliance with letters missive from the First Congregational 
Church, Wareham, an ecclesiastical council was this day convened in 
their meeting-house, for the purpose of considering and deciding in 
reference to Rev. Mr. Nott's dismission as pastor of said church. 

Members of council present were, — 
Rev. R. S. Slorrs, D. D., pastor, > From the Congregational Church 
Br. Asa French, delegate, \ in Braintree. 

Rev.Ebeneze. Burge., D. D.. pastor, | ^TcIl^.^'l^Sr'^ 

Rev. J. Bigelow, pastor, > From the First Congregational Church 

Br. B. Shearman, delegate, \ in Rochester Centre. 

Rev. Erastus Maltby, pastor, ) From the Trinitarian Church, Taun- 

Br. Augustus Butler, delegate, / ton. 

Rev. George W. Blagden, pastor, from Old South Church, Boston. 

Rev^ Nehemiah Adams pastor, ) p^^^ ^^^^^ g^^^^^ ^^^^^^ g^^^^^ 

Br. William Brown, delegate, j 

Rev. Leander Cobb, pastor, } From the Congregational Church, South 

Br. Nathan Briggs, delegate, ^ Rochester. 

Rev. J. Roberts, pastor, } From the Congregational Church, 

Dea. Tucker Damon, delegate, \ Fairhaven. 

T. T T^ T • . ( From the Congregational Church, East 

Rev. James D. Lewis, pastor, I Falmouth. 

The council was organized by the choice of Rev. Dr. Storrs, mode- 
rator, and Ray. Erastus Maltby, saribe. 



139 

United in prayer with the moderator. 

After the reading of the letter missive, Rev. Mr. Nott and the clerk 
of the parish presented several parish votes and documents. 

A communication from a committee of persons claiming to be a 
majority of the church, was presented, stating that they had taken no 
part, nor had any concurrence in the convoking of this council. 

Voted, That, in the hearing of this case, we confine ourselves to 
the time succeeding the result of council, February 20, 1840. 

Having he^rd Mr. Nott till nine o'clock, P. M., and uniting in 
prayer with Dr. Burgess, adjourned till to-morrow morning. 

Wednesday morning, 25th, 8 o'clock, opened with prayer by Br. 
Maitby. 

Mr. Nott proceeded to read documents, accompanied with state- 
ments and explanations, till one o'clock, after which adjourned, to meet 
at two o'clock. 

Two o'clock, P. M. The council being by themselves, after mature 
deliberation, — 

Resolved, 1. That, in the view of the council, the conduct of the 
members of the Trinitarian Church, in agitating the question of Rev. 
Mr. Nott's dismission a few weeks after their re-admission into the 
First Church in Wareham, was in violation of the just expectations of 
the council which advised to their re-admission into the First Church; 
and, in view of the present council, was a breach of faith, and unwor- 
thy of upright and Christian men. 

Resolved, 2. That, in consequence of there being a majority against 
the pastor in the church through the re-admission of these members, 
the pastor was justified, under the circumstances, in refusing to receive 
their votes; and, hence, that this council is regularly called, according 
to the letters missive. 

In reference to the alleged dismission of Mr. Nott, by an ex parte 
council, in April last, — 

Resolved, That, in view of this council, the terms on which the 
connection of Rev. Mr. Nott, as pastor of this church, agreed upon at 
his installation, namely, that a six months' notice should be given by 
the parish or minister, when either party should wish the connection 
to be dissolved, had not been complied with by the parish previ- 
ous to the calling of the ex parte council which professed to dismiss 
him ; and therefore that the doings of said council are null and void. 

The council are, moreover, of opinion that the fact that the clerical 
part of said ex parte council, called for such a purpose, was, to so great 
a degree, composed, not of pastors of the churches, but of stated sup- 
plies, is contrary to good Congregational usage, and to the obvious 
right of a pastor to be tried by his peers. 

It also appears to this council that a mutual council, to .act in the 
dismission of Mr. Nott, had never been offered him, on any grounds 
which he could, in truth and justice, have accepted ; because the vote 
of the church, proposing a mutual council, required him to admit that 
his connection with the parish had been dissolved two years before. 

As an expression of opinion in regard to Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., — 

Resolved, That, in the opinion of the council, Rev. Mr. Nott is 
sound in doctrine, and faithful in the discharge of his pastoral duties; 
and, as such, he is worthy of our entire confidence. 



140 

Resolved, That it is not expedient to dissolve the pastoral and min- 
isterial relation of Rev. Mr. Nott to this church and people. 

The council, in the several foregoing resolutions, have expressed the 
substance of their opinions upon the subjects involved in the case be- 
fore them. They would, however, do injustice to their own feelings 
and views, and to the general subject, did they not say that, in their 
view, the Rev. Mr. Nott, and those of the church and parish who have 
sustained him hitherto, have a solemn and important duty now devolved 
upon them. It is a question which involves the peace and prosperity 
of the churches everywhere. Shall the majority of a church and par- 
ish, with their pastor, be harassed and distracted by the disorganizing 
efforts of a minority ? Such has plainly been the case in this religious 
society, without any good cause ; and we think that our brethren and 
friends who have pursued such a course have much to answer to their 
consciences and to God. They have rent the church and parish with 
a protracted and dreadful strife; they have disturbed the Christian 
peace and edification of their brethren in Christ; they have bound 
heavy burdens upon the heart of their pastor, and, we fear, have stood 
in the way of his fullest success. The council do not take it upon 
them to interpret the judgments of God, when they say that the memo- 
rial of God's hand, in the yet visible injury by lightning of this house 
in which we are now assembled, seems to them in sad coincidence 
with a state of things in the church, which, they fear, is obnoxious to 
the rebuke of Almighty God. While they would feel and speak in all 
Christian kindness towards the disaffected members of the church and 
parish, the council must, in faithfulness, declare to them, that they are 
doing an injury, by their present conduct, which, if continued, it may 
take years to repair, and may be preparing for them work for bitter re- 
pentance. 

The council would, therefore affectionately and earnestly exhort 
them to withdraw their opposition to their pastor, to strive together 
with him and with their brethren, for the promotion of religion and the 
honor of God's house; and that they fulfil the promises and hopes with 
which they evidently encouraged the council and the church at the 
time of their re-admission to the church. The council will hope that 
a review of their conduct will convince these brethren that their own 
best interests for time and eternity, and the interests of the church of 
Christ, require that they should accede to the views and wishes herein 
expressed. 

The council would encourage this church and parish to unite with a 
good heart in sustaining the cause of religion among them ; to act 
towards one another as becometh the gospel of Christ, seeking the 
things that make for peace in a spirit of conciliation. The council 
would say to them, Be strong and of good courage, and the Lord will 
be with the good. 

To their respected and beloved friend and brother, the pastor of this 
church, the council would tender their best wishes and prayers. They 
commend his constancy and firmness, and believe that, in maintaining 
it in time to come, he will increasingly manifest the meekness and 
gentleness of Christ. The council would therefore take leave of all 
concerned, with the earnest hope and prayer that they will yet see 



141 

good days for this church and people, according to the days in wliich 
they have seen evil. 

Votcff, anatiimatfsli/, That the foregoing be approved as the minutes 
and result of this council. 

R. S. Stokrs, Muderatur. 

Erastus Maltby, Scribe. 



SEVENTH PERIOD— FROM OCTOBER, 1844, TO OCTOBER, 1845. 

Pastor's Notice, Sabbath, October 27, 1S44. 

[* Taking upon himself the power and responsibility of putting them, 
if not out of the pule if the church, yet out of t/ie privileges of the 
church, at his own free will and pleasure, more in the character of 
a prelate than a pastor.' See Memorial, September 23, 1845.] 

By the leave of Providence, I shall administer the Lord's supper in 
this house, next Lord's day, as pastor of this church, installed August 
5, 1829, to those who remain in the acknowledgement of me as such. 

Of course, administering as pastor 1 cannot administer as not pas- 
tor, on the request of the sixteen brethren, who have publicly with- 
drawn themselves from my pastoral charge, and, in their organized 
separation, have requested me to " administer ordinances until further 
notice." * Their separation from me as pastor of this church is en- 
tirely their own act. They alone, without any act of mine, have 
separated themselves from me as pastor of this church, and thereby 
made it impossible for us to act or have fellowship together as pastor 
and church /nembers. Nor must we profane this holy ordinance by 
any attempt to come together in opposite characters. 1 must not pro- 
fane it by administering in two opposite characters, as pastor and as 
not pastor — a double mem ; they must not profane it by receiving in 
two opposite characters, as under and as not under my pastoral charge, 
as double men. 

November 1, 1844. 

After the preparatory service, S. Bourne, Esq., made to the pastor, 
publicly, the following communication, viz : 

'* I am authorized to state, that so many of eighteen male members 
of this church, as shall make it convenient to present themselves at 
the communion table next Sabbath, will do it with the understanding, 
that the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. is the invited pastor and not the settled 
pastor of 1829." 

Sabbath, November 3, 1844. 

The pastor proceeded as follows, viz : 

As introductory to what I have to communicate I repeat, as we have 
just sung — 

Blind unbelief is sure to err, 
And scan His work in vain : 
* God is his own interpreter, 

And He will make it plain. 

* Seep. 116. 

19 



142 

(The notice of last Sabbath having been read, and also the commu- 
nication of Mr. Bourne on Friday.) Was there ever stricter special 
pleading than this ? The administrator notifies the administration in 
the following terms: "I shall administer, as pastor of this church 
installed August 5, 1829, to those who remain in the acknowledgment 
of me as such." The reply of certain persons is, that they will come 
to the administration, " with the understanding that the Rev. Samuel 
Nott, Jr. is the invited pastor and not the settled pastor of 1829." 
This then is our condition: the pastor coming to administer as the 
pastor of 1829, and these persons coming to receive, on the under- 
standing that he is not the pastor of 1829. This is Our condition. 

God is his own interpreter, 
And He will make it plain. 

They are coming on " the understanding that the Rev. Samuel 
Nott, Jr. is the invited pastor and not the settled pastor of 1829." . . . 
Of course, they cannot be received on that understanding. Of course, 
we cannot meet at the communion table at all, for I shall come to it 
on the directly opposite understanding, viz, that I am vot the invited 
pastor and that I am the settled pastor of 1829. With this opposition 
of claims, I cannot administer to them without denying myself both in 
word and deed ; without profaning the holy ordinance in the very act 
of its administration. With this opposition of claims, they cannot 
receive of me without denying thansclves, loithout profaning the holy 
ordinance in the very act of its reception. 

The communication of Friday last, just read, would require me to 
refuse to administer to them, if there had been no previous ground, 
while taken with the request of April 27, and with the second commu- 
nication laid before council by their committee, September 25,* it 
■confirms and strengthens the necessity which previously existed. In 
this third communication, I am informed, with varied phrase, which 
only makes the case more plain, that they will come to the communion 
on the understanding which I have rejected for more than six months; 
which I rejected in the appointment of the ordinance; which now, in 
the phrase of their last communication, I do again reject. I shall nut 
administer on the understanding that I am the invited pastor and- not 
the settled pastor of 1829; but, on the entirely contrary understand- 
ing, that I am not the invited pastor, but am the settled pastor of 1829. 

And now tell me, how with these opposite understandings we are to 
meet in giving and receiving ; how I am to reach them so that I can 
give; how they are to reach me so that they can receive? . ... As 
well might I, standing on this spot, reach the church in Sandwich ; and 
as well might the church in Sandwich reach me standing on this spot. 
The one would be the hindrance of a twelve mile's distance ; the 
other, the hindrance of an utter and absolute inconsistency. Of 
course, I must refuse to administer to them on the understanding de- 
clared, as well as on all the accounts already abundantly explained. 

If any are disposed to predict evil from this method of proceeding, 
my answer is, as at the close of the paper, August 30, explaining the 
whole matter : " To churches and communities as well as individuals, 

=* See p. 128. 



143 

applies the question, Who is he that shall harm you if ye be followers 
of that which is good ? " , 

The communicants notified last Sabbath, i. e. those remaining in 
the acknowledgment of me as pastor, initialled August 5, l8'-29, and 
not those who propose to come on the understanding that 1 am the 
invited pastor, are now requested to take their usual seats. 

The AdminUlratinn. 

1. The communicants being seated, prayer without remark. 

2. I request Mr. IJenry Burgess to assist Dea. Crocker in the ad- 
ministration. 

Jj. From the majiner in which the seats have been taken, I cannot 
decide whether some of the persons excepted in the invitation, design 
to present themselves. Others of them are so seated as to leave no 
doubt. Of course, if any have not intended to present themselves 
they will understand that what I am now to lay before you does not 
apply to them. In anticipation of this emergency I. have prepared 
myself in writing. Engaged in a most sulcmn and rdsponsible work 
the ulmost deliberation is needful, and also that the ivholc jjroceeding 
should be made in such a manner as to be matter of record, and be 
ready for all needful review. I proceed to read as I have written. 

I perceive in the seats appropriated to the communicants, those who 
have informed me that they should come on " the understanding that 
I am the invited pastor and not the settled pastor of 1829," and who 

have been informed that I cannot administer to them 'And now 

let me ask, Is it decent, is it becoming God's house, is it reverent to 
this sacred ordinance thus to present themselves 1 1 may ask yet fur- 
ther, Is it kind to me? My deliberate course, as 1* trust my whole 
character, must have shown ihem that my decision in this matter has 
not been taken rashly, nor without reason, which compel me as a man 
and as a pastor of Christian integrity ; and they must believe that I 
cannot administer, on the understanding on which tliey come, without 
doing violence, at once to my common sense and conscience ; without 
denying at once tiie declaration on which the administration proceeds, 
and my whole opinion and course in the matter ; without doing an act 
in my own view, absurd and wrong ; without proving myself in the 
act, base and false? And can these brethren intend or desire to com- 
pel a Christian pastor in administering the Lord's supper, to do an act 
contrary to his own sense of duty? to deny the very words in which 
he announced the administration? to administer the Lord's supper 
with a lie in his right hand ? Or, if he could do so base an act, are 
they willing to receive the administration at his hands? Or, on the 
other hand, will they, by coming after the repeated declaration of the 
pastor, that the administration proceeds only on the ground of 1829. — 
after that declaration upon theirs of Friday last, will they come in an 
act which in these circumstances must contradict their own declara- 
tion ? .... I beg them even now to withdraw themselves Let 

them not attempt a communion and fellowship which is impossible. . . 
If they proceed and I proceed after these mutual declarations, there is 
no communion, and the only appearance where the reality is impossi- 
ble, must come from a double meaning somewhere, on my part, or 



144 

theirs, or both ; that double meaning, thnt mental reservation, that 
falseness of the thought to the deed, which was the grand and leading 
Catholic immorality. Do these brethren wish that 1 should administer 
to them after their declarations, and thus imply that I am but an in- 
vited pastor, while yet I have the secret understanding that I mean no 
such thing ? that 1 should be a false man 1 Or, on the other hand, 
after my declaration, are they willing to come and thus imply that they 
come acknowledging me as the pastor of 1829? and yet with the 
secret understanding that they mean no such thing, as false men ? . . . . 
Will these brethren withdraw? .... (After sufficient waiting ) 

Having now waited sufficiently long, I have no further responsibility, 
except to proceed to the administration in the most distinct and ex- 
plicit terms, and under a due sense of my responsibility as a minister 
of Christ and as pastor of this church. As a man of honesty and 
truth 1 administer in one character only, as the settled pastor of lf?29, 
to those who remain in the acknowledgment of me as such ; and who- 
ever takes of these symbols on any other grounds, takes them not from 
me as I minister at this table. To you, therefore, who remain in the 
acknowledgement of me in my pastoral office, received here fifteen 
years ago, and not to those who come on the v»nderstanding that I am 
not the settled pastor of 1829, do I, ministering in the name of Christ, 
give this bread. 

The cup was administered in the same formula, after again stating 
the importance of making record of the w^hole procedure. The ser- 
vice w^is closed by an address to the large number, who had remained, 
urging them to profit by the scene before them. 

P. S. November 5, 1845. This painful scene might no doubt 
have been avoided — not indeed by me if they pressed themselves as 
receivers of what I could not give on the understanding required — but 
by that '* courteous separation " which was the only proper course of 
the brethren after taking a position and making requests and declara- 
tions which forbade communion. When ive cannot agree, on a basis 
of union, there is no other proper toay but to agree to differ. See 
declaration of November 2, 1845. 

The sacrament of Lord's supper was administered January 5, 1845, 
under the same papers and formula as in November. 

March 2, 1845. 

The pastor in proceeding to administer the Lord's supper made 
the following communication. 

I gave notice last Sabbath, as I did previously at the Lord's supper 
in January, that the administration would proceed at this time on the 
declarations made before, and at, the same solemnity in November. I 
am oblicred to suppose that those refused, now present, (four,) design 
to present themselves a third time to receive the Lord's supper at my 
hands, notwithstanding my continued refusal and their own remarkable 
neo-lect of my ministry during the interval. In these circumstances I 
proceed to repeat the several steps in the case, and to make such a 
conclusion of the whole matter as, I may hope, will induce them, 
^whatever may be their present intention, not to present themselves 
now or hereafter, until the bars which they have themselves put up 
shall be removed. This, then, is the state of the case. 



145 

On the l?th April last, the pastor of this church was declared dis- 
missed by an ex parte council ; and on the same day he made public 
and official declaration of his belief, that that dismission was both ille- 
gal and unjust, null and void, and that he should continue in the exer- 
cise of the duties of his office until other and legal action had been 
had. 

On Saturday, April 27th, the pastor received the following letter, 
namely : "Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., Dear Sir. — We hereby request you 
to occupy our pulpit, preach and administer ordinances, until further 

notice. Very respectfully yours S. Bourne, for the Prudential 

Committee raised by the church on Wednesday last." 

On Sabbath, April 28, the pastor having read that letter publicly, 
declared, " that he acknowledged no such meeting of the church, and 
occupied the pulpit solely on the ground of the votes of the church and 
parish, and of the installing council of 1829." 

Thus on Sabbath, April 28, we stood, with our positions perfectly 
defined: — I claiming to be the pastor of this church, on the ground of 
my original settlement in )829; and the adherents of the ex parte 
council, an organized body styling themselves the church, and claiming 
of me to preach and administer ordinances on their request solely ; 
i.e. on the ground that I was dismissed April 17, 1844. Thus we 
stood, and have stood, from that day, in positions which render all co- 
action and fellowship impossible. 

It was at this point that I was to proceed in regular course to an- 
nounce the Lord's supper for May ; and though I saw then, that they 
had by their own act rendered co-action and fellowship impossible, yet 
as I was obliged to decide my course without much time for reflection, 
I thought it most advisable "to suspend the communion until further 
consideration, or new events should remove the difficulties which then 
prevented me." 

On the 48th of August, I made the further public deelaration : — " I 
do now declare expressly and solemnly, after months of deliberation 
and careful consultation, my continued refusal ; and that 1 have no 
intention or expectation of ever administering to them the Lord's sup- 
per again, so long as the case remains as stated in my public refusal, 
Aprir28." 

On August 30, I gave to these brethren and to the church, in a 
very careful document, the reasons of my refusal of co-action and fel- 
lowship : and this careful document having been laid before the council 
of September 24, 1844, on the question referred by the parish, that 

council left me in my office as pastor At this point I considered 

it my duty to terminate the suspension of the Lord's supper, and to 
proceed thenceforward in the full exe'rcise of the pastoral office. ... I 
therefore, on the last Sabbath in October, announced the Lord's supper 
in the following declaration (see ante) which has been the basis of all 

subsequent proceedings (The declaration of Friday, November 

1, and the papers of Sabbath, November 3, 1844, having been refer- 
red to.) 

I think it proper to add now, in a matter of such importance, and 
connected with all the principles of social order; — that this separation 
is not only no act of mine, but that it is also, not merely a separation 



146 

from me, but as truly from this church itself as it has stood and stands 
with me as its regularly settled pastor ; and that, whether the number 

of the separatists be ^q\v or many United on a false basis, they 

are not and con never Ije the church of Wareham, which has stood and 
been sustained in the felloioship of the churches for a hundred years: — 
and therefore further, that it is not merely a separation from me, and 
from this church, hut from all the churches, so far as they stand in fel- 
lowship with this church, and with me as the pastor of this church 

settled August 5, 1829 As long as these persons remain in their 

false organization, and in their claim of the administration of ordi- 
nances on the understanding that the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. has not 
been pastor since April 17, 1844 — so long, do they bar out themselves 
from all co-action and fellowship with this church, and all other 
churches who disallow the jurisdiction and doings of the ex parte 

council which declared me then dismissed Even if the pastor 

were now to die or be regularly dismissed, his dismission or death 
would not restore them to their place in this church, or in the fellow- 
ship of the churches — would not undo their false organization and 
acts. This church, and the churches in fellowship with it, would still 
have to require retraction and disavowal, and a declaration of allegiance 
to the regularly constituted church, before they could proceed to co-act 
and have fellowship with them, before they could walk with them at all. 
This church could not commune with them ; no minister could ad- 
minister to them, ichile denying their organization and their claim to 
he regarded as the church, and to receive ordinances on their under- 
standing of the dismission declared April 17, 1844 The dismis- 
sion or death of the pastor might be thought, in popular phrase, to 
unite all parties by removing the bone of contention ; but it could not 
permit this church, however reduced in the number of adhering mem- 
bers, or the churches in fellowship with it, to unite with those who 
claim co-action and fellowship on grounds which they rightly and 
utterly deny. 

Let it be understood then, that this separation is no act of mine, 
and that it is not merely from me, but from this church also, and from 
all the churches, if they adhere to the settlement of 1829. Let these 
brethren be assured that the longer they pursue their course, the more 
clearly must it appear to all reasonable and Christian men, that their 
organization and demand forbid the co-action and fellowship on which 
they insist. If I have any right apprehensions of the necessary prin- 
ciples of social order, without which no communities can exist — nay, 
of the plainest dictates of common sense, they cannot have co-action 
and fellowship as they now stand with the pastor of this church, with 
this church, or with the churches in fellowship with it. Tiine may be 
trusted to clear away the darkness which may have obscured this mat- 
ter in the minds of any, and I have no doubt will at length approve my 
refusal of co-action and fellowship, to the minds of all reasonable and 
Christian men. 

I think it proper on this occasion to say farther, that the refusal of 
co-action and fellowship, in which I stand, is, in the circumstances, the 
only true method of peace. If I had attempted ten months ago to 
secure peace by maintaining co-action and fellowship, I should have 



147 

taken the very method to produce discord and contention. The at- 
tempt to act together with two opposite organizations, under two oppo- 
site heads, on two opposite understandings, if persevered in, must liave 
been in confusion and strife while it lusted ; and the opposite claimants 
must at length have been forced apart, to remain without co-action and 
fellowship, until they could agree on which basis the church stands, 
whether August 5th, 1829, or April 17th, 1844. The right course is 
the most peaceful course. There can be no interference with true 
peace in avoiding all improper occasions of dispute and conflict. If 
an entire separation is an evil, it is the least evil that the circumstances 
admit. All that is required of me is to be ever ready to meet these 
brethren in co-action and fellowship on right grounds, and until then, 
to continue my refusal in all kindness. 

I will add one word with regard to the congregation at large, before 
whom in the administration of the Lord's supper I come to show forth 
the Lord's death. Beware, lest you make a wrong use of the circum- 
stances in which you see us. Were the circumstances ten fold more 
unpleasant than they are, this ordinance wnuld still be the appointed 
sign of our Saviour's sacrifice and work, and would still call to repent- 
ance and faiih — to the new birth and to deeds made manifest that they 
are wrought in God ; or recurring to our late instructions — the Lord's 
supper would still call you to the Lord's prayer ; to employ it in spirit 
and in truth, and to live the life which it breathes forth, now, hereafter, 
and forever. Let not these circumstances turn you away from the 
great object of your being 

I cannot say that I can meet these circumstances without pain : but 
this I must say, that never in all my life, have I seen the path of duty 
more plain. Ten months have elapsed since I took my present stand, 
and my duty has appeared in the progress of time, only more and more 
plain 

At the close. ... I will only say to all, invited or uninvited — church 
members or spectators : However dark the prospect, if we are forced 
by the darkness to the only source of light, then, the light will arise 
upon us 

Dr. Hitchcock's Letter. 

Randolph, June 19, 1845. 

Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. : My Dear Brother, — I have been requested 
by a gentleman from Warehara to make some efforts for the promotion 
of peace and love in that place, which request I have taken into con- 
sideration. I may come to the conclusion that it is my duty to com- 
ply, but if so, it will be with an earnest desire for the best welfare of 
yourself and the church of Christ. 1 hope, however, that such arrange- 
ments will be soon made by yourself and the church, as to convince me 
that I have no further duty to perform in the premises, and no need of 
solicitude respecting the cause of Christ in Wareham. The longer I 
live, the more deeply do I feel the importance of making personal sacri- 
fices on the part of both ministers and churches, to build up our be- 
loved Zion. The greatest sacrifice I have been called to make, has 
been to have any thing to do in allaying the spirit of variance, than 
which I know of nothing more opposed to the spirit of love, which is 



148 

the spirit of the gospel. That we, and all concerned, may be influ- 
enced wholly by this spirit, is tiie sincere desire and earnest prayer of 

Your friend and brother, 
(Signed), Calvin Hitchcock. 

Answ£r. 

Wareham, June 24, 1845. 

Rev. and Dear Sir: The documents are all ready for your inspec- 
tion after, or, (if peradventure you may think it a needful preliminary,) 
before you have " come to the conclusion," *' to make the greatest 

sacrifice " which falls to your lot "It is a snare to devour that 

which is holy, and after vows to' make inquiry." ..... The documents, 
so far as I am concerned, will be found on your visitation, to have 
been prepared with the utmost deliberation and care; and I would 
hope, as declaratory acts and overtures, not in oblivion, after the disci- 
pline of one third of a century, of the spirit of " personal sacrifice " 
and of *' the spirit of love " which 1 sought earnestly in my youth. I 
trust that " all things will be set in order when you come." 
With all due respect and affection, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 

Public Notice, June 25, 1845. 

In consequence of the lamented death of Dea. Crocker, the Lord's 
supper for July will be omitted. 

Jt is needful further to give notice, that unless the reference to a 
mutual council under which the pastor's declaration was made, Au- 
gust 30, 1844, ten months ago, be accepted, it will be indispensable, 
soon, to make the arrangements which will then be needful for the 
regular administration of ordinances and church affairs. 

Wareham, July 2, 1845. 

Messrs. S. Bourne, D. Swift, and J. Bumpus : Dear Brethren, — At 
our conference on Monday last, I understood you to be acting for the 
sixteen brethren, and to intimate in general terms your readiness for a 
mutual council on the matters in question between us. On parting 
with you I promised to prepare a form for a letter missive, which 
should be conformable to the documents existing in the case, and, that 
being premised, as agreeable to you as I could. I have therefore 
limited the accompanying forms to the mere facts, without qualifying 
them at all. I have prepared two, either of which I am ready to adopt 
as you may elect. It is proper to add, that they are submitted on the 
understanding expressed at our conference, that the proposed council 
is to consist entirely of churches with their regularly settled pastors. 

Pirst Form. 

Whereas there is a difficulty in the Congregational Church, Ware- 
ham, on the matters herewith submitted, this is to request you, by your 
reverend pastor and delegate, to meet in mutual council, and to hear, 
examine, and decide on the following points, namely : 

1. Whether ten members, late of the Trinitarian Church, are enti- 



149 

tied to the rights and privileges of this charch, so long as they persist 
in their voles of February 23, and March I, 1844, and their subsequent 
action therefrom. 

2. Whether sixteen members of this church, including the above 
ten, are to be sustained in their vote of March I, 1HJ4, and in their 
subsequent action therefrom; and whether their organization and ac- 
tion on the result of ex parte council, April 17, 1844, are to be sus- 
tained. 

The above form being adopted, that is, the points at issue being re- 
ferred — then my refusal of co-action and fellowship, made because you 
would ** neitiier acknowledge nor refer," would no longer exist, and 
the letter missive would go forth in the name of the Congregational 
church of Wareham, by our united vote. 

If the above form is not adopted, that is, if the points at issue are 
not referred to a mutual council, then^ in the language of August 30, 
1844, with our "opposite claims, we cannot meet at all in church ac- 
tion and fellowship, we cannot even acknowledge the same meetings 
to be meetings of the church;" and, of course, my refusal of co-action 
and fellowship remains in full force, subject to the appeal therefram to 
a mutual council, to answer which, I pledged myself in my declaration 
of refusal. In this case, the following form of letter missive is, in my 
opinion, suitable, and to be preferred to one more particularly accord- 
ing to the facts, namely, " approved by a committee of the church 
meeting in the acknowledgment of the pastor, settled 1829," and by 
*' a committee of the church meeting on an organization in accord- 
ance with the result of ex parte council, April 17, 1844." 

Second .Form. 

Whereas the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., has refused all co-action and 
fellowship with sixteen brethren, on their organization and request, as 
signified by their committee, April 27, 1844, and under the pledge to 
answer their appeal to a mutual council thereon, — this is to request 
you, by your reverend pastor and delegate, to meet in mutual council, 
and to hear, examine, and decide on that appeal. 

(Signed,) Samuel Nott, Jr. 

A. B. and C. D., 

In behalf of Appellants. 

That the conformity with the documents may be manifest, I subjoin 
the following references to the past. [This letter closes with referring 
to the protest of March 1, appealing to a mutual council ; to the public 
offer of a mutual council before ex parte council, April 16, lb44 ; to 
the suspension of the Lord's supper, April 28, because " they would 
neither acknowledge nor refer ;" to the communication, August 18, 
refusing communion so long as the case remained as April 28; to the 
refusal under reference, of August 30; to the renewed offer implied in 
the reading the documents before the council of September 24; and 
to the papers of November, grounded on the preceding refusal.] 
20 



150 

Warehara, July 17, 1845. 

S. Bourne^ Esq. : Dear Sir, — Your propositior» of Friday last, in 
behalf of the sixteen brethren, was to insert between the two questions 
in my first form of July 3, the following: "Whether Mr. Nott is to be 
sustained in excluding them and others from the privileges of the 
church." I understood you finally to propose it as a third question, 
embracing the whole number at once, as follows, " Whether Mr. N. is 
to be sustained in excluding the sixteen brethren from the privileges 
of the church." 

I have, first, to say, in agreement with my paper of July 3, that when 
the two questions are referred, then there is no exclusion to sustain, be- 
cause my refusal of co-action and fellowship was on the ground that 
you •' would neither acknowledge nor refer." Strictly speaking, the 
third question is inadmissible. 

Again, if the design be, as I suppose it is, that my whole proceed- 
ings as they were, shall be adjudged, ail this is included in the compre- 
hensive questions already before you. If you are sustained in your 
organization and action, then /am not sustained in refusing to act ac- 
cording to them On the other hand, if you are not sustained in 

your organization and action, then I am sustained in refusing to act 
according to them. .... Strictly speaking, the third question is un- 
necessary. 

Nevertheless, if you think otherwise, then I agree to the following, 
the exact counterpart of what precedes, and in the same exact and lit- 
eral agreement with the facts, as follows : 3. Whether Mr. Nott is to 
be sustained in refusing to acknowledge " their organization and ac- 
tion, in accordance with the result of ex parte council," and in refus- 
ing co-action and fellowship thereon, under reference to a mutual 
council. 

I have to add, further, that my consent to a mutual council, whether 
on the two questions or the three, must be on the understanding that 
I hold myself undtr my contract toith the parish, with all its obligations 
and privileges remaining until after a six months' notice given by one 
or the other party; and that my submission to any decision sustaining 
the organization and action of April 24 and 27, 1844, cannot take 
effect until six months after the notice which such a decision would 
require me to give; that is, I consent as far, and no farther, than I 
have a legal right to consent; a limitation necessarily implied, if not 
expressed, but which I hereby express in form, though under the fullest 
assurance that the council cannot sustain the organization and action 
in question. 

This formal fesfervation is required of mie peculiarly by the circum- 
stances of the case. I should have ill requited the exact, scrupulous, 
and continued fidelity of the parish, had I failed to make it. From 
the time of the ex parte council, they have faithfully recognized thp 
contrxict as ^continuing in full force; — April 29, 1844, referring the 
question of a six months' notice, according to contract, to a mutual 
council ; in November, called to see if they would give a six months' 
notice, declining to do so, and making provision for the fulfilment of 
the contract; in March, 1845, declining again; and, at their annual 
meeting, in April, 1845, making their usual annual arrangements for 



151 

their obligations Had I failed to i»ake a formal reservation, I 

should have been put to shame by the exact, scrupulous, and continued 
fidelity of the parish, and could not have complained if an unreserved 
compliance, on my part, had been met with their claim of no obligation 
since October 20, 1843. 

This formal reservation is still more important, in view of the per- 
sons who are about to call upon the churches to sustain their organiza- 
tion and action, on the ground that there is no contract. Who are 
these persons who, in March, 1844, decide that there is no contract 
since October 20, 1843, and vote without reserve for the ex parte dis- 
mission of the minister? — at whose call an ex parte council declares, 
in April, 1844, that " the civil contract is void," without any hearing 
of the parish after March 7, 1842? — who organize and act on the 
ground that there is no contract and no minister ?^ — and who, after the 
parish has affirmed the contract fourteen months longer, are about to 
call the churches to sustain their organization and action, on the 
ground that there is no contract? .... I will only state the circum- 
stances which would render me inexcusable, if 1 did not make the 
most formal reservation of the contract, until I can close it by a six 

months' notice Ten of them, without whose vote these proceedings 

could not have been put in course, withdrew from the parish seven years 
ago, and have never since borne any share in fulfilling the contract, 
which, after seven years, they presume to adjudge. Five years ago, 
they withdrew from the church also, under the result of council, that 
they might do so, though without cause, ** for the sake of peace." 
December 20, 1843, they were received again under the result of 
council, ** on the understanding that all past grievances were to be 
considered as settled." On the first of March, 1844, they voted for 
the dismission of the pastor by a concurrence with parish vote of March 
7, 1842, and, on the 24th April, 1844, united in an organization, in 
accordance with the declaration of an ex parte council, called by their 
vote, that the minister was dismissed in view of " long continued diffi- 
culties," and because the ** civil contract was void." . . . And now, 
after fourteen months' adherence on the part of the parish, they are 
about to call a council to sustain " their organization and action," on 
the ground that there is no contract with the parish / . . . . Of course, 
I cannot decently submit the question without the most formal reser- 
vation, that a decision in their favor cannot take effect until after a 
six months' notice, according to contract. 

That there may be no misunderstanding by the council, I add, that 
this reservation is not intended to vary the questions submitted — to 
express any consent to an award which shall close the relation after six 
months. I submit no such question ; but simply reserve that any de- 
cision sustaining the sixteen in "their organization and action on the 
result of ex parte council," cannot take effect until after due notice, 
according to the contract existing and acted upon by the parish and 
myself until now ; and this reserve is made under the deepest assur- 
ance that the sixteen ought not to be and cannot be sustained. 

Further, it will be necessary to insert a clause in the letters missive, 
so that the introductory sentence may read as follows: '• Whereas there 
is a difficulty in the Congregational Church, Wareham, on the matters 
herewith submitted, this i& to request you, by your reverend pastor and 



152 

delegate, to meet in mutual council, and, under the preliminary papers 
of July 3, and July 17, to hear, examine, and decide," &lc. 
With earnest prayers for a blessing, yours, &c., 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 

JuIt/ 19. 

In answer to Mr. Nott's communication of July 17, Mr. Bourne, in 
behalf of the sixteen, expressed his wish to accept the original proposi- 
tion of July 3, that is, the two questions only, without the clause insert- 
ed in the preamble by the letter of July 17. Mr. Nott insisted that 
any acceptance, whether of the two questions or the three, must be 
with the formal reservation stated in the letter of July 17. Whereupon 
Mr. Bourne agreed to accept the three questions, and the clause insert- 
ed in the preamble as above, distinctly stating that it is because Mr. 
Nott refuses to submit them without the reserve expressed on the 17th. 

July 27. . 

The church met, pursuant to notice given last Lord's day by the 
pastor, as follows : 

The church, without any exceptions, are requested to meet immedi- 
ately after service on Sabbath, July 27, to take such measures with 
reference to a mutual council which has been agreed upon, as they 
may see fit. 

The church having heard the reports of the agreement, — 

Voted, That they receive the sanction of the church, and that Mr. 
Nott and Mr. Bourne sign the letters missive in behalf of the church. 

Notice, August 31, 1845. 

By the leave of Providence, the sacrament of the Lord's supper will 
be administered in this house, in regular course, next Lord's day, and 
as I expect, with the aid of the surviving deacon. 

It is necessary to add to this notice, in connection with my notice 
of April 28, 1844, suspending communion, and with the papers of 
August and November, 1844, refusing communion; and, again with 
my notice, omitting the communion for July, 1845, that the case de- 
scribed and referred to in these several documents no longer exists ; 
that the hindrance to fellowship was removed on the 19th July, when 
the matters in question were referred, by agreement, to a mutual 
council The Lord's supper will therefore be administered with- 
out the exceptions made in the papers of November. 

May He with whom is the fulness of all blessings, so influence us 
that this renewed communion may be with the highest blessings upon 
us and around us 

Wareham, Sept. 23, 1845. 

Meeting of Council. 

The council being convened on the letter missive agreed upon July 
19, the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, of Randolph, was admitted to act- in 



153 

behalf of the sixteen brethren. The preliminary documents referred 
to in the letter missive were then read ; after which the Rev. Dr. 
Hitchcock read a "Memorial of the First church in Wareham," with 
the ** legal opinion" and "result of council" appended, and presented 
the same papers as printed documents, stating that they were not pub- 
lished, but printed for the use of the council 

On hearing the title and first sentences of the memorial, Mr. Nott 
objected to its being styled a " memorial of the church," since the 
very question referred, was, whether the organization and action of 
the brethren under that title, was to be sustained. 

Dr. Hitchcock then expressed his willingness to substitute another 
phraseology. When Mr. Nott said, that having interposed the objec- 
tion, he was perfectly willing that the paper should be read, as it had 
been printed. 

The printed documents having been read, the Rev. Mr. Putnam 
supposed that the next thing would be, for Mr. Nott to say how far he 
admitted and how far he denied the matters contained therein. 

Mr. Nott. I was some years ago indebted to Mr. Putnam, who 
pursued legal studies in his youth, for a definition of what is called 
special pleading, which takes place before the parties go into court. 
Now if these documents had been put into my hands a week ago, I 
might no doubt have been ready with my special plea thereon. 

Dr. Hitchcock. The brethren did not have the pamphlet until last 
evening. 

Mr. Nott. I happen to know that this pamphlet was printed a 
week ago 

Besides, three fourths of the ** memorial" have nothing to do with 
the case. This council is called upon specific questions, which are 
to be answered upon their own merits, and not upon any views of my 
doctrine and proceedings at large. No doubt I feel a natural desire 
that you should think me a worthy man and minister ; but I shall not 
allow myself to be diverted by that desire from the simple questions 
before you. It would require far more time than I can expect you to 
sit, to settle one half of the irrelevant matters contained in the memo- 
rial. Much rather will I leave you to think that I preach against all 
revivals; that these brethren are having " a serious conflict for ortho- 
doxy ; " that I am ministering to " a Unitarian Society;" that the 
number of my " hearers is greatly reduced ; " that I have been very 
much *' excited " and that I have said the sayings declared, — than to 
allow any departure from the specific questions before you. In gen- 
eral terms, / do not admit the statements lohich have been read, but I 
shall not attempt to meet any of the errors which are irrelevant to the 

very matters in hand / also have marked out my method before 

this council, and in pursuing it, 1 believe I shall indirectly correct 
many of the errors in the memorial. In this hope, I shall proceed 
according to my previous plan. 

Mr. Noifs introduction to the documents. 

The whole case lies amply stated and unfolded in the best of all 
forms — in cotemporary documents — in declaratory acts. They cover 
more than eleven years, and are distinct, explicit, full statements, on 



154 

which I am still willing to rely, as when they were, at each occa- 
sion, carefully and deliberately prepared; and I have the fullest 
confidence that these documents will approve themselves to the judg- 
ment of the wise and good in all future time. If you would take 
leisure to consider them, I should have scarce a word to say. I took 
the utmost pains at every step to consider and record my reasons at 
the time ; and the several declarations and statements are my acts. 
The documents are the testimony in the case. The more fully you 
examine them, the better I shall be satisfied, and the more perfectly 
will you understand, and, as I believe, approve my course, and disap^- 
prove the doings against which I stand. 

I trust you will take time. The parties concerned in this council 
haye a right to claim that you take time enough to understand the 
case. Besides, you do not meet and adjudge for us alone, but for all 
the churches. The decisions of this council will not be unimportant 
to Massachusetts and New England. You cannot have any more im- 
portant duty than to give all the time and attention to this case which 
you shall find needful in order to decide aright, the points which are 
submitted to you as a court of Christ. 

The questions to be decided are sufficiently plain. Under reference 
to a mutual council, as became me, they have been decided by me, 
carefully, deliberately, I have hoped prayerfully, as became a Chris- 
tian minister in new and untried circumstances, where he was com- 
pelled to act. Happily for me, a kind Providence has led me to do 
all I have done in declaratory acts, in written documents, giving the 
reasons on which I acted, and which I believe ought to influence you 
in the answers to the questions before you. 

After this introduction, Mr. Nott proceeded to read the documents 
in application to the three questions successively, making partial use 
of the following summary. Dr. Hitchcock was then heard in reply. 
Mr. Nott rejoined and closed in the full use of the summary prepared 
beforehand. His extemporaneous rejoinder and explanations he has 
attempted to embody, for substance, with the original paper. Dr. Hitch- 
cock replied. Mr. Nott declined any rejoinder, being willing to rest 
the case on the documents and summary already before the council. 

Mr. Nott's Summary/ of the Case. 

First question. — The members, late of the Trinitarian Church, are 
not entitled, &c. 

The votes and subsequent action, embrace the procuring the minis- 
ter to be declared dismissed and their uniting in an organization and 
in action in accordance with that declaration. Believing the facts 
already sufficiently before you, I will only beg you to compare the 
three results of council — February, 1840; December, 1843; and 
April, 1844. 

The^rs^, February 24, 1840, allows their dismission for the sake of 
peace, though without any sufficient ground in their grievance with 
the preaching and procedure of the pastor — the grievance of many 
years. 

The second, December 30, 1843^ le-admits them " on the uodet'- 



155 

Standing that all past grievances are to be considered as settled, and 
that all future grievances are to be issued according to covenant obli- 
gations," and this, in the very words which that pastor pri>posed, and 
which were the sum and substance of the full, explanatory paper from 
which they were taken. 

The third, April 17, 1844, in less than four months, procured by 
these very members, declares the pastor dismissed, in view of " long 
continued difficulties," of their " dissatisfaction with his preaching 
and measures," by concurrence with a vote more than two years oldy 
and twenty months older than their own readmission on the ground that 
all past grievances were settled ! 

April 24, they unite in an organization as a church '• in accord- 
ance" with this result, on a dismission thus declared in connection 
with past grievances ; all, by their own showing, in direct, literal, 
gross contradiction to the terms of agreement, on which, four months 
before, they were readmitted, and only consistent with their "memoiial" 
before this council, still pleading the grievance of years, and the full 
right to plead it in contradiction to the agreement of December 20th. 

As to the claim of that memorial, that the agreement of December 
20th had no reference to the pastor at all, I might say, as with refer- 
ence to any column of figures summed up to a false footing, you may 
print and reprint the error a thousand times over, and yet every child 
will know that the footing is false. Two and two can never be made 
five, however often the assertion or reassertion be made. With regard 
to the testimony of Dr. Robbins, and other members of the council of 
December, 1843, it were enough to say, that no testimony can estab- 
lish a different understanding from the plain and necessary meaning of 
a written document. What testimony can prove that the note for one 
hundred dollars was intended for five dollars, and above all, when one 
hundred was the footing of the account which that note settled. If ten 
Dr. Robbinses were to declare that the agreement did not regard the 
pastor who proposed it before hundreds of witnesses, nor the grievances 
which these returning members had at their departure, the agreement 
would be still as plain to the contrary as that two and two make four ! 
Besides, not to do Dr. Robbins injustice, the sentences quoted from 
Dr. Robbins do not touch the case ; but one central sentence, not 
quoted, does, for it gives the agreement in full strength — nay, still 
stronger, by giving it in a different form of words. That one sen- 
tence forbids any understanding which excludes the grievances with 
the pastor.* 

No sir, so long as these brethren persist in their votes and action, 
they are not of us ; cannot be ; ought not to be. They have slipped 
the band of agreement and are not bound with us. They have re- 
jected the terms of the partnership and are not our partners. They 
are not entitled to the rights and privileges of this church so long as 
they persist in their votes and subsequent action. Such were my 
declarations, August 30, 1844, t corresponding with earlier declara- 

* 1 regret that I am not able to publish this letter, not having received any answer to the 
following note to Mr. Bourne : My dear sir, — 1 renew my request, made through Mr. Barrows, 
for a copy of Dr. Robbins's letter read before the late council 5 and most cheerfully state that 
my design is to print it, or such extracts from it as I may think required by the extracts 
already printed in the " memorial." 

t See pp. 123, 124. 



156 

tions, all under reference to a mutual council ; not, as has been said, 
fnystlf assuming to adjudicate, but referring my judgment in the mat- 
ter, to be adjudicated by the churches in mutual council assembled. 
Of course, the question was one for a council to settle, and not for the 
church, when the very question was, Who are the church in view of 
an agreement made before council ?....! expect your decision, that 
they are not entitled to the rights and privileges of this church, so 
long as they persist in their votes and action. 

Admit such a decision painful ; but it is not so painful as to allow a 
solemn and plain agreement, made in public and before a court of 
Christ to be so grossly violated — not so painful as to bind a church 
together on a breach of faith, which is not to be tolerated in common 

business I speak without reserve. There can be nothing more 

unhappy than to slur over these proceedings and declare these persons 
in fellowship while persisting in their doings; as there is nothing so 
desirable as their fellowship, on the acknowledgment and retraction of 
their error. There is no other course consistent with the decision of 
the council of December 20, 1843, nor with sound morality. The 
path these brethren have travelled, by their own showing, is not 
correct; and there is no way of establishing them in the rights and 
privileges of this church, and in the fellowship of the churches, but to 
insist that they retrace their steps. Unless you do this, you put the 
claims of the church of Christ lower in the moral scale than business 
partnerships — than civil corporations. You set aside the principles of 

common honesty and plain-dealing The highest kindness, too, 

if their course be wrong, is to require them to forsake it. There is 
no kindness in attempfinar to slur over wrong deeds, or in requiring fel- 
lowship with them. If you will deal truly with these brethren, you 
stand the fairest chance of their present and everlasting thanks. 

Second question. — The vote of March 1, and subsequent action, 
embrace the procuring the pastor dismissed, and the uniting in organi- 
zation and action thereon as a church without a pastor — their request 
and declaration. Can that vote and these issues be sustained ? They 
cannot. 

I. Because the vote of March 1, was no vote of the church. 

(I ) Yor first, the right of ten to vote was suspended by regular 
protest and appeal to a mutual council — by due and formal challenge — 
until that appeal and challenge were issued. No matter, though the 
challenge be decided groundless, that decision could not cover the 
interval between the challenge and its regular decision. It is the 
principle of common sense and common law, applicable to all public 
bodies, that voters under challenge cannot vote until that challenge 
has been heard and determined by the proper authority. 

(2.) Much more, if you decide them not entitled now, so long as 
they persist in that vote, then of course they were not entitled to pass 
the vote itself On both these accounts the vote of March I, 1844, 
was no vote of the church in Wareham ; and, on this ground, both it, 
and all results and action therefrom, fail to be sustained. 

II. Because if it had been a vote of the church, it did not authorise 
the Utter missive on which the council was called. The vote is to call 
a council *' for the dismission of the pastor." The letter missive calls 



J 



157 

to ** do and advise such things as shall seem right and fitting." No 
authority is given by the vote for any inquiry as to what is right and 
fitting — no authority is given for such a letter missive. Of course the 
letter missive and the council thereon cannot be sustained. 

111. Because if the vote had been of the church, and the council 
had been duly called according to the vote, it consisted for the most 
part of churches with ministers not regularly settled; and therefore not 
competent to be enforced upon a minister regularly settled. By con- 
sent, any council might be competent. But without consent, such a 
council is incompetent ; and no action thereof can be sustained. The 
extreme case brought forward by Dr. Hitchcock, does but make the 
principle more manifest. Suppose, then, with him, that Dr. Beecher 
is the unsettled minister to be enforced as a judge in an ex parte 
council upon a minister regularly settled, and it makes more plain the 
principle which sets aside one of the first ministers in the land. The 
ex parte council had in it eight ministers, and if I am rightly informed 
six of them were not regularly settled ; and I say, if they had been 
six Dr. Beechers, that council would not have been authorised to try 
and decide the question, which was brought before them.* 

As to the other assertion — The.i/ had jurisdiction because they de- 
cided that they had; I know not how to treat it seriously. Alas ! for 
us if it is so. Then, Inquisition ad libitum, anywhere, everywhere; a 
court to dismiss or to destroy, wherever there can be found men who 
shall declare themselves a court ! who shall say, We have jurisdiction ! 
Then, there shall be no difficulty in forestalling justice. Before the 
regular court shall convene on Wednesday, as in this case — the quick- 
est runners shall occupy the bench on Monday, and be a court, because 
they soy they are a court! and judgment if not justice shall sacrifice 
its victims ! ! 

IV. Because if the council had been regularly called and constitut- 
ed, it was an ex parte council without the necessary preliminary of a 
mutual council unreasonably refused. 

(I.) No offer of a mutual council at all, was made to me on the terms 
on which that council was called, i. e. " to do and advise what wag 
right and fitting." As to the assertion that " for the dismission" and 
*• to do and advise what is fitting," (i. e. that *' to be executed," and to 
" go to trial,") are equivalent expressions — I leave the logic and can- 
dor of it to the logic and candor of the council. 

(2.) The oflTer made in the March vote — the offer refused — was the 
most unreasonable conceivable : it being not to go to trial, but to con- 
fess judgment and be sentenced : or, as I was compelled, for shortness, 
to say before the council of last September, not to be tried for my life, 
but to be hanged outright ! 

I need not try to enhance the argument by dwelling upon the facts 
that this ex parte council was called without giving me any informa- 
tion of whom it was to consist, and that I had to meet two able lawyers 
without the least intimation that legal council was to be employed. . . . 
I proceed to ^ fifth reason why this March vote and the subsequent ac- 
tion cannot be sustained. 



* Not more, than that six Daniel Websters would be the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, 
capable of enforcing judgment j however capable of being arbiters by consent 

21 



158 

V. Because if the four preceding reasons did not exist, and the 
council were to be acknovvledgred as having jurisdiction in the case, 
then, ike originaling vote of March 1, 1844, furnishes no good and 
sijjficient ground for the dismission of the minister. 1 ask your delibe- 
rate and careful attention. 

(I.) The vote of March 1, 1844, presents a concurrence of the 
church with a notice of the parish, March 6, 1842, two years previous! 
and cannot be considered as any due compliance with the agreement 
between the parish and tiie church, that " to dismiss a minister, shall 
be in favor of his dismission, both a majority of the church and a ma- 
jority of the society." What other meaning can this have, but that a 
majority of the church and a majority of the parish must be in favor of 
dismissing, at the time of his dismission ? The truth is, that the vote 
of March I, 1842, was never offered for concurrence at all,! was never 
intended for concurrence. But if the passing it were to be declared as 
equivalent to presenting it for concurrence in March, 1842 ; even then, 
it certainly was not presented for concurrence in 1844, any more than 
in 1848 or 1858 ! . . . . Much more, a vote of March, 1842, cannot be 
offered for concurrence two years afterwards, to voters not in 1842 
belonging either to the church or parish, and who had lost all claims 
to a voice in the matter, by a withdrawal from the parish and all its 
obligations five years before ! The concurrence was " estopped " / 

(2.) The vote of March 7, 1842, does not propose to dismiss the 
minister at all. On the other hand, it proposes the continuance of 
*' parochial services," in dependence on subscribers for support, pre- 
cisely as had been done five years before. I have a fair claim to deny 
the right to make even this conditional notice, at a meeting called to 
pass votes in " relation to the contract," and not to vary it or set it 
aside — not called for the specific purpose as in 1837.* But passing 
this objection, the vote of March 7, 1842, bears on its face the pro- 
posal of continuance of ** parochial services " on a new tenure. t No 
doubt, the vote might have been better expressed, but its meaning and 
intention could not have been more plain. In the very same utter- 
ance, without finishing the sentence, without stopping to take breath, 
the parish proposes "parochial services" on a new tenure, in lieu of 
the old — adds a clause of continuance to limit and explain the clause 
which preceded. Besides, it makes its proposition in the exact terms 
of 1837 ,t thus adopting a precedent already established ; and that pre- 
cedent is referred to in the letter of acceptance, July 29, 1842,1; and 
the pastor's understanding, stated that the vote " proposed a continua- 
tion of parochial services." If the parish had intended dismission and 
not continuance, they would, of course, have replied accordingly, to 
the mistaken assumption of the pastor. Their silence gave consent 
to his understanding, of the plain meaning of their vote, and to the 
application of the precedent of \SM. 

Again, if the parish " deliberately dismissed the minister, March 7, 
1842," what means the subscription paper, § adopted in parish meeting 
under the same date, " for the purpose of paying the Rev. Samuel 
Nott, Jr. for his services as pastor of the first parish in Wareham, the 
half to be paid in June and the balance in December?" .... A dis- 

* Compare pp. 21 and 57. t Do. pp. 58 and 21. t Do. pp. 58, 59 and 23. § p. 58. 



159 

mission deliberately given to take effect in six months, and a provi- 
sion deliberately made at the same instant for semi-annual payments, 
as to an undismissed minister ! The relation to end September 7, 
1842, and yet provision made for the claims of a relation continued in 
December ! I am no lawyer, and have had no experience of the 
power of legal studies in sharpening the eye-sight, and of course can- 
not see with those sharp-sighted lawyers * "the manifest dissolution 
contemplated in the agreement," in the very utterance which pro- 
poses the continuance " of parochial services " — in the very subscrip- 
tion paper which provides "for the support of Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. as 
pastor of the first parish in Wareham," after the relation is dissolved ! 
I, of course, know not the legal import of ex vi termini, but must sup- 
pose it to mean — what only legal sharp-sightedness can see — the termi- 
nation of a thing in its continuance; the end in what reaches beyond 
the end ! The like acumen appears in the evidence found in the 
receipts given March 6, 1843, on the same paper — one for salary, on 
the old tenure, to Septeniber 7, 1 84*2, the other for salary, on the new 
tenure, fru7n September 7, I842,t both given to the treasurer six 
months after the " dissolution ; " after the " deliberate dismission ; " 
after the receiver had been six months longer in actual service. Such 
is the vis termini to art eye sharpened by the law ! The tearing of the 
receipts apart, and thus leaving the second receipt not dated, and mak- 
ing the impression that the date in the receipt is the date <f the 
receipt, and that it was given at the end of the six months' notice, 
may teach men to be cautious to date all their receipts; but this alters 
not the fact. The receipt is still for salary from September 7, 184'2, 
after the six months' notice had ended, dated March 6, 1843 ! ! 

(3.) The concurrence with my notice, of April 20th, 1843, refusing 
to depend on an irresponsible subscription more than six months, 
gives no efficacy to the vote of March I, 1844. 

In the first place, the church had no need of concurrence with my 
notice at all, if it really existed M^rch 1, 1844 ; for the church had 
a standing concurrence with any notice of mine, given when they 
procured my installation on the parish vote of 1829. My right of dis- 
mission on my own six months' notice, does not depend on any new 
concurrence of the church. But, secondly, there tvas no notice of 
mine to concur with March I, 1844 ; for after considerable correspond- 
ence with the parish, my notice, April 20, 1843, was virtually with- 
drawn by my letter of July 31, signifying my acceptance of a proposi- 
tion then made me.| What means then this concurrence of March I, 
1844, with my conditional notice of April 20, 1843, eight months after 
it had been loithdrawn ? Had not I a right to withdraw my own notice 
after the conditions of withdrawal contained in it had bieen to my sat- 
isfaction fulfilled ? Had not I as good a right to be satisfied with the 
proposition made July 31, as I had to be dissatisfied with the proposi- 
tion which I refused, April 20th 1 And when I had declared my 
acceptance, what notice of mine was there to concur with ? There 
was none, after July 31, 1843 — not even the next day; much more 
was there none eight months afterwards No matter liovv 1 be- 
came satisfied. I ivas satisfied. I had the same dissatisfaction in 

* See Legal Opiaion, p. 189. i See p. 38. X See correspondence, pp. 69—76. 



160 

1837, and became in like manner satisfied, and declared my accept- 
ance of terms proposed ; and in neither case was there left any notice 
of mine to be concurred with in months or years afterwards. Can 
you sanction a dismission on concurrence with a notice of mine, after 
it had been dead eight months? novt — after it has been dead twenty- 
six months ? 

(4.) The resuming vote of the parish, July 31, 1843, had set aside 
the parish vote of March 7, 1842, and left no vote of the parish for the 
concurrence of the church, or for the dismission of the minister. This 
resuming vote would, of course, settle the question, were it not that it 
is pleaded to have been passed at an illegal meeting. 1 pi;oceed to con- 
sider the case in view of that plea. 

{n.) No matter whether the meeting were legal or not, if /was sat- 
isfied so as to withdraw my notice. What if I had been satisfied with 
the proposition made me by the committee of June 4, to accept the 
encouraging subscription offered me,* or the other proposition of indi- 
vidual responsibility, and had declared my satisfaction and acceptance 
in the same manner as I had declared my dissatisfaction and refusal"? 
Had not I a right to be satisfied with the good will of the parish, 
without any inquiry or knowledge as to legal formalities? Or if I had 
become rich, and thereupon ready to accept half salary, or no salary, 
had not I a right to withdraw mi/ notice, and leave the parish, if they 
wished the relation dissolved, to give theirs ? 

(6.) Admit the meeting, July 31, 1843, illegal, and therefore inca- 
pable of acting; was not the May meeting for the same reason illegal, 
being called by the selfsame unsworn officers? And being so, then, 
of course, that illegal meeting, that unassembled parish, had no hands 
to take, no eyes to see, no tongue to read, no ear to hear, my notice of 
April 20, though it was the fullest parish meeting that Wareham ever 
saw, and my notice had not yet reached the parish, March 1, 1844 ! I ! 
The effect of this alleged illegality would be to leave me under the 
vote of March 7, and my letter of July 29, 1842, still on the irrespon- 
sible subscription list, but not dismissed, nor liable to be dismissed, 
thereby. 

(c.) If the meeting of July 31, 1843, was illegal, and the resuming 
vote invalid, so also was the meeting of March 7, 1842, making the vote 
of notice equally invalid. The undoubted truth is that both meetings 
were, strictly speaking, illegal, that is, that the officers who called 
them had not been duly qualified ; and that this defect runs back 
through several years, rendering every meeting illegal in itself, and, if 
there were any case of formal qualification, rendering that also invalid, 
because the originating meeting was not called by qualified officers. . . 
Admit all this — which cannot be denied — and the effect is not to de- 
stroy the vote of July 31, 1843, only, but the notice of March 1, 1842, 
also, and to leave the original contract of 1829, in full force, and my 
claim of $800 a year, instead of $700, upon the First Parish in 
Wareham, wherever this corporation can be found — a claim, of course, 
to be discarded with abhorrence ! t 

(d,) The neglect of the parish, in the due forms of parish meeting, 
cannot cancel a contract which preceded those neglects — a contract 

* See p. 72. t Compare p. 110. 



161 

Ions standing and still current in visible and regular course of services 
rendered and received. Are not contracts to be interpreted according 
to the understanding of the parties ? And is it the understanding of 
the parlies that a minister is to keep watch and ward upon his parish, 
and take charge of its legal forms, in order to preserve his contract 
inviolate? 1 never inquired whether the parish meeting that called me, 
in iS'iy, was legal or not ; nor did any one of these ministers ever ask 
the like question of their parishes. And why need the question be 
asked at the tirst, or afterwards? Do corporate bodies cease to be 
bound by their obligations because of their own subsequent neglects? 
Can obligations taken ten years ago be cancelled by illegalities which 
have followed since? Can a town rid itself of its obligations by care- 
lessness and neglect of legal forms ? — be rid of legal obligations by its 
own illegality? Can the state, can the nation, repudiate its obligations 
because there have been irregular forms? Can France, under Louis 
Philippe, deny the claim for spoliations on our commerce under the 
consulate, and keep back the 5,000,000 francs? 

The meeting of July 31 was illegal, was it? There is a legal flaw, 
is there? The law will let you slip your obligation, will it ? Be not 
too sure. Will a court of law, April 17, 1844, decide that there has 
been no contract since October '20, 1843, contrary to the understand- 
ing of the parties at the time of making the contract — contrary to the 
principles which govern all public bodies, great or small, because of 
informality and irregularity? Above all, will they do this when the 
contracting parties are still connected by services rendered and received, 
and when by the allegation, the public body has not been heard from 
for more than two years of that still existing relation ? Will a court of 
law decide such a contract void, when, during two years of services 
received, the parish has not been heard from? When they learn the 
plea that the contract was dissolved, INI arch 7, 1842, and that the par- 
ish has received the service of two years without any legal utterance, 
what think you they will do before they issue the case in April, 1844? 
1 am no lawyer, but I can instruct you better than the ex parte council 
of 1844 were instructed by two of the ablest lawyers in Massachusetts. 
Why, they will either dismiss the case altogether, or require the plain- 
tiff to cite the parish to appear legally at a future hearing Admit 

that the parish did not speak legally, July 31, 1843, does not the law 
provide a way for opening its mouth? If it has not been heard from for 
two years, is there no legal way of breaking the silence? How law 
would proceed in such a case you may learn in every newspaper you 
see — in every advertisement to absent parties previous to judgment. 
Was ever such a thing heard of as this, that more than two years after 
the parish had last legally spoken on a contract of fifteen years still 
current, the court, without any citation, should instantly decree the 
contract void? .... Still more plain would be the case to-day. If the 
parish has not been heard from for three years and a half, what else can 
you do but to suspend proceedings until they can be cited to appear 
and answer under due forms of law ? 

But the matter does not rest here. The parish has met, and at 
length, under due forms of law, under the warrant of a justice of the 
peace, March 9, 1844,* and thenceforward, has spoken ia many meeU 

* See pp. 101, 102. 



162 

ings according to law, refusing to dissolve the contract — referring the 
question to a council, which refused to dissolve the contract — again and 
again refusing to dissolve the contract, and making arrangements to 
fulfil its obligations! Would a court of law meeting to-day, and hav- 
ing proved before them the action of the parish since March 9, 1844, 
sustain the disn)ission of April, 1844, or decree a dismission to-day, 
to take effect March 24, 1846, against the legal action of the parish 
itself maintaining the contract? 

(e.) But suppose the contract were void in law; suppose that the 
courts of Massachusetts were not courts of both law and equity ; and 
that the legal flaw were sufficient to debar all claim at law; and that 
the pastor can be cut short, September 7, 1842, or October 20, 1843, 
when in equity, in righteousness, in honor, his claims are good until 
April, 1846. Suppose the path of injustice and dishonor as bright as 
the noonday, with all the light which glared on it in this house of God, 
April 16, 1844, which nine churches of the Old Colony were deceived 
in thinking the light of the sun ! . . . . What if it were so ? Is it the 
part of a Christian council to do wrong because they legally can ? and 
of another Christian council, to confirm their wronoj doino- ? Alas! 
the clearer the proof that you can do wrong safely, the greater the 
crime of doing it ! Admit the license which the legal flaw gives you, 
and it is but the license to do an act ''unrighteous and disgraceful" — 
the license to do what belongs not to that high court of equity — an 
ecclesiastical council! (Compare pp. 109, 110.) 

But, to conclude this matter of legal avoidance — to state it as I be- 
lieve it would stand before the courts of Massachusetts, — Tke contract 
is not void in law, because it is not void in equity^ because the courts of 
Massachusetts are courts of law and equity ; because the laws are to be 

interpreted on the principles of equity Well did I say before the 

ex parte council, on a supposition which has not come to pass, that if 
this matter were compelled before the courts, and should find Judge 
Eddy or Judge Coffin on the bench — not interpreting law for their cli- 
ents, but holding the even scales of justice — the minister's common 
sense would be found weightier than the law they plead ! Well did I 
quote Judge Story's commendation of Chief Justice Marshall — that it 
was not his profounder knowledge of the law, but his profounder common 
sense, on which all law must rest, which made him worthy to be chief 
justice of the United States, and the expounder of the Constitution. 
And well may 1 now quote from the ex-chief justice of this common- 
wealth, as reported to me by a juror of common sense: ''There is no 
law," said he to some of these pleaders of technical flaws in favor of 
injustice, and against reason and common sense — "There is no law 
hut reason and common sense." And certainly in Massachusetts, with- 
out any separate court of equity, it is especially true that the courts of 

law, are courts both of law and equity The laws are to be inter* 

preted on the principles of reason and common sense. Yes, sir, if you 
should sustain the dismission of April 17, 1844; and if this parish (I 
beg them to pardon the supposition) should thereon refuse payment 
from October 20, 1848, to the 2oth March, 1846, on the ground that 
the contract has been void, and this matter should come before the 
courts of Massachusetts, there could be no other decree, but that the 
First Parish of Wareham must be bound through its corporate offi- 



163 

cers or individual members, and must pay the salary, until the contract 
should have been duly voided by the notice conditionally promised 
July 17. 

Indeed, this matter is so plain that these sixteen and their abettors 
cannot and do not, with any consistency, maintain their own ground. 
.... Was the ex parte council self-sustained in the dismission they de- 
clared ? They were called on the assertion " that the contract of set- 
tlement was dissolved," and in their result declare that it was "void," 
and needed not to leave their seats to decide a matter which was as 
plain as the noonday! And yet this council adjourns at 4, P. M., on 
Tuesday, and sits until two o'clock on Wednesday morning ! For 
why? Because the case, instead of being clear as the noonday, is as 
dark as the midnight in which it was decided! And yet, again, in the 
midst of that long session, after six hours' consultation, why came one of 
its members to me to see if I would not agree to a mutual council, un- 
less because the proposed ex parte disniission was not felt to be clear? 
Nay, why was not my consent thereon, as before the council itself, to 
go to a mutual council, on the grounds of dismission in the March 
vote, accepted, but from the feeling that no mutual council would 
adjudge a dismission ? . . . . Nor are the sixteen any more self-sus- 
tained than the council they procured. Before the ex parte council 
in their Memorial, they declare the parish extinct for years; and yet, 
in their Memorial of September 25, 1844, they declare that Mr. Nott 
was dismissed in pursuance of the votes of the parish and the church, 
and that in pursuance of a compromise with the gentlemen of the par- 
ish they consented that the pastoral relation should continue " to give 
the parish time to notify," and do not think that " the parish in- 
tended," &,c. (See p. 128.) 

Nay, further, the very call under which you sit gives their own repu- 
diation to their own doings ! I insisted, before I would submit this 
question to you, that I was bound by contract, and could not violate it, 
though the wisdom of southern Massachusetts should declare me dis- 
missed a year and a half ago ; and that such a declaration should not 
take effect except after the time required by the terms of that contract. 
And do you think, sir, they would have yielded my reservation, if they 
had felt able to sustain the declaration of the ex parte council ? Would 
they have consented that the contract should not be voided until six 
months to come, if they believed themselves able to sustain the decree 
that it was voided two years ago ? 

Third Question, on refusing Co-action and Fellowship. 

The discussion of this question before council requires two or three 
specific notices. 

1. It has been asked, Whv this refusal of co-action and fellowship 
was made by the pastor without beino^ referred to the church, as ac- 
knowledged by himself, .... The plain answer, manifest in all the 
documents, is, that the refusal was not made for the church, but for 
himself. It was his refusal, not theirs, and, from the very nature of 
the case, must have been his, even though it had not been theirs. 
Had the church, meeting in the acknowledgment of the pastor, voted 



164 

their consent, he could not have administered to those who presented 
themselves, on a demand, and with an understanding which Ae per- 
sonally and officially discarded. The pastor did not decide even for 
the deacon, but left him to pursue his own course, after the pastoral 

formula had been made He actfed for himself, and only for 

himself 

2. A pathetic appeal has been made on the tyranny of this refusal. 
Alas, how easy it is to turn things about, and then talk of them as just 
the contrary to what they really are ! Ifthere.be tyranny in this mat- 
ter, who are the tyrants? Undoubtedly they who cast the minister by 
force from the pulpit and the table, and then required him to ** occupy 
the pulpit and administer the sacred ordinances" on their leave, on 
their " understanding that he was the invited pastor, and not the pas- 
tor of 1829," in the virtual acknowledgment of what he publicly and 
solemnly denied ! — not he, who did but rule himself so as not to deny 
his principles — so as not to be false to himself! 

8. Let it be remembered that the question is not on a refusal of 
communion, in whatever gross form any may see fit to represent it — in 
whatever glaring colors any may choose to paint it — but simply on the 
documents of the administration. This, and this only, was done by 
the pastor on these trying occasions He uttered these papers de- 
liberately, most deliberately prepared, under the deepest conviction 

that he was acting before God, angels and men He uttered these 

papers; and on these, and these only, is the question, — Are they such 
papers as the occasion justified and required ? And now, briefly, as I 
am prepared beforehand, — 

The third question is necessarily answered according to the answer 
to the second. If the sixteen are sustained in their organization and 
request, in accordance with the result of ex parte council, then I am 

not sustained in refusing to acknowledge and comply If they are 

not sustained, I am Of course, if you decide that I was regularly 

and rightly dismissed, April 17, 1844, and that, since that time, 1 have 
been nothing more than a temporary supply, until the further notice of 
the prudential committee " raised by the church " on the 24th April — 
then I am condemned in continuing to act on my installation of 1829. 
And, on the other hand, if I was not dismissed, and if they therefore 
were not duly organized as the church, then I have been right in act- 
ing as the regularly settled pastor of VVareham The facts of the 

case rendered it impossible for me to have co-action and fellowship 
with them on the ground on which they requested and claimed fellow- 
ship with me, as is abundantly set forth in my declaratory acts, already 
before you 

Shall I add the briefest illustration ? .... Mr Moderator,— Will you 
permit Dr. Hitchcock to speak on this floor on the understanding that 
you are not the moderator of this council ? Will you exchange with 
me next Sabbath on the understanding that you are not the regularly 
settled minister of Braintree ? Will you admit me to your pulpit on 
the understanding that it is not yours ? Or to the Lord's table on the 
understanding that you are not the regular administrator of it, on the 
ground of your original settlement? Can you do these things? There 
is but one possible answer which can be made by common sense and 



I 



165 

common honesty; and if you make that answer, you shall no doubt be 
sustained. Is it possible that you will not sustain me, as an honest and 
consistent adherent to my installation of 1829? 

But I hasten to conclude, fixing your attention chiefly and finally 
upon the second question, though without overlooking the others. I 
shall speak with all respect to this council — with all kindness to these 
sixteen brethren ; but 1 assure you I have considered these matters too 

long, and see them too plainly, not to speak also without reserve 

Be assured this is no question of angry parties, whose feelings you are 
come to allay — of mutual mistakes, on which you are pniderjtly 
to find some middle way — but a question of all-important princi.ples. 
This whole community are my witnesses, that, if there are contending 
parties, I am not one of them ; that the testimony before the council, 
December '20, 1843, of my friendlitjess to all was true — is true; that, 
saving the standing on these points firmly, there is no accusation of 
unfriendliness; and that, if firmly, these have been quietly, peacefully, 
maintained — not in angry contention, but in deliberate and calm 
declaratory acts, without disputings. And the principles are so 
right and so plain, that I expect the common sense and common 
honesty of the mass of the community to justify your decision, in re- 
fusing to sustain the vote of March 1, and its issues — the organization 
and action thereon. There is no medium way of settling these sol- 
emn questions of right and wrong, and, I repeat from the preliminary 
papers, my deepest conviction that this council ought not to, and can- 
not, sustain these brethren. 

But, in a matter yet undeclared, perhaps I ought, for a moment, to 
admit the possibility that you may sustain these acts, which I call, as I 
did the originating act, ** unrighteous and disgraceful." With all re- 
spect to this council, let me say, if you do sustain, you cannot your' 
selves be sustained. No doubt you will be sustained thus far, that, at 
the expiration of the six months' notice, according to contract, which I 
have promised on this supposition, I shall withdraw from Wareham, in 
obedience to your decision, unrighteous and disgraceful as I shall 
most certainly think it; and, of course, these sixteen loill have carried 
their point, and will have gained whatever reward and blessing such 
an object and such measures bring with them, and you will have con- 
ferred the boon I But do you think the matter will end here ? . . . . 
What if these things are unrighteous and disgraceful; do you think 
that your decision can exalt and establish them 1 Do you think that, 
if you sow to the flesh, you will not of the flesh reap corruption ? and 
that the seeds sown 'in Wareham, in southern Massachusetts, in this 
commonwealth, will not come to their legitimate harvest, except as they 
are prevented by the abhorrence and condemnation of the people ? 
What though the wrong first done in Wareham should have gained 
first the sanction of nine churches of the Old Colony, and then been 
crowned by the representatives of the church in southern Massachu- 
setts, partakers of what I most fully believe an ecclesiastical and civil 
crime. Suppose such a thing possible : you yourselves cannot be sus- 
tained ! Do you think that even now the common sense and common 
honesty of the people of Wareham will sustain you ; that the common 
sense and common honesty of these neighboring churches, long faujil- 
iar with these transactions, will ? And when these documents shaJl 
22 



166 

have been forced through the press, and become a part of the ecclesi- 
astical history of Massachusetts, and be read now by whosoever will, 
and in years to come shall be found among the rubbish of old times — 
do you think that men will honor the council who shall sustain these 
doings ? What ! will common sense and common honesty, will time, 
will events, will the harvests of men's deeds sustain a council which 
declares a contract void two years ago, and yet not void for half a year 
to come ? — a dismission valid, October 20, 1843, and yet not valid till 
March 25, 1846? — that there was no contract with the parish, October 
20, 1843, under a condition of fulfilling the contract until March 25, 
1846!!! — who sustain a dismission, too, by a council not authorized 
by the vote on which they met — by an ex parte council on matters 
never offered for a mutual council — a council for the forcible dismission 
of a settled pastor, formed of churches, for the most part, without settled 
pastors? . . Connected, as my name must be, with the ecclesiastical his- 
tory of New England from my early connection with foreign missions, 
do you think that time will not, in this matter, bring forth my right- 
eousness as the light, and my just dealing as the noonday ? 

You have the opportunity to-day of doing effectual service to the 
cause of truth and righteousness — to the great principles on which 
churches, parishes, and ministers can act together — to the great prin- 
ciples on which alone men can live and act together even in civil life. 
And in so doing, you will render the best service to these sixteen breth^ 
ren ; for you will then aid their return from wrong paths. I pray they 
may accept your decision, as an excellent oil, which shall not hurt 
their head — as the greatest of all kindness. 

But if you should confirm these doings — the effect of dismissing me 
I do not regard as the matter of a siraiv — yet nothing can be more 
injurious to them and to those who may agree with them among this 
people — to the nine churches who first sanctioned the wrong, and to 

the thirteen who shall crown it with their approbation Instead of 

effacing, it would be fixing and extending the blot, from Wareham to 
southern Massachusetts — a foul blot, which, if I have any apprehen- 
sion of common sense and common honesty, of righteousness and just 
dealing, future times will look upon with shame and with abhorrence!! 

Result of Council. 

Wareham, September 23, 1845. 

Agreeably to letters missive from the Congregational Church in 
Wareham, an ecclesiastical council was this day convened in their 
meeting-house, at four o'clock, P. M., to hear and advise in relation to 
difficulties existing in said church. 

Members present were, — 
Rev. Elijah Dexter, pastor, ^ From the First Congregational 

Dea. Lewis Bradford, delegate, j Church, Plympton. 
Rev. Israel W. Putnam, pastor, > From the First Congregational 
Dea. II. G. Wood, delegate, \ Church, Middleborough. 
Rev. L. Sheldon, pastor, ) From the First Congregaticnal 

Br. Barzillai Dean, delegate, ) Churchy Easton. 
Rev. R. S. Storrs, D.D., pastor, ) From the First Congregational 
Br. Asa French, delegate, ) Church, Braintree. 



167 

Rev, D. Brigham, pastor, ) From the Trinitarian Congregational 

Dea. Morton Eddy, delegate, ) Church, Bridgewaier. 

Rev. J. Bigelow, pastor, ) From the Centre Congregational Cliurch, 

Dea. J. H. Clark, delegate, j Rochester. 

Rev. Erastus Maltby, pastor, I From the Trinitarian Congregational 

Br. C. J. H. Bassett, delegate, } Church, Taunton. 

Rev. Silas Aiken, pastor, from Park Street Church, Boston. 

Rev. George VV. Blagden, pastor, from Old South Church, Boston. 

Rev. Nehemiah Adams, pastor, from Essex Street Church, Boston. 

Rev. S. Washburn, pastor, ) From the Central Church, Fall 

Br. Nathan Durfee, delegate, j River. 

Rev. J. W. Ward, pastor, ) From the First Congregational Church,* 

Br. L. E. Noyes, delegate, } Abington. 

Rev. L. Cobb, pastor, ) From the South Congregational 

Dea. William Taylor, delegate, ) Church, Rochester. 

The council was organized by appointing Rev. Dr. Storrs, modera- 
tor, and Rev. Erastus Maltby, scribe. 

The Rev. Mr. Dexter led in prayer. 

Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, of Randolph, appeared as counsel for the six- 
teen members of this church referred to in the letters missive, and was 
accepted as such. 

Rev. Mr. Nott, in behalf of himself and the protestors, and Rev. Dr. 
Hitchcock, in behalf of the sixteen members, presented various docu- 
ments till ten o'clock, P. M. 

Adjourned to meet in this place to-morrow morning at eight o'clock. 

Wednesday morning, September 24, met agreeably to adjournment. 

Rev. Mr. Sheldon led in prayer. 

The council heard documents and statements from Mr. Nott till 
twelve and a quarter o'clock, when they adjourned. At one and a half, 
P. M., the council met, and Mr, Nott resumed, and closed his state- 
ments and reading at five. 

Dr. Hitchcock and Silvanus Bourne, Esq., in behalf of the sixteen, 
then offered statements and arguments till ten, P. M., when the coun- 
cil adjourned. 

Thursday morning, eight o'clock, council met according to adjourn- 
ment. 

Rev. Mr. Blagden led in prayer. 

Dr. Hitchcock and Esq. Bourne resumed their statements and argu- 
ments, and proceeded till ten o'clock. 

Rev. Mr. Putnam led in prayer ; then Mr. Nott continued in reply 
till half past twelve, at which time adjourned. 

The council met at half past one, and united in prayer with Rev. 
Mr. Aiken. 

Mr. Nott then closed his remarks; also Dr. Hitchcock, in reply. 

The council being by themselves, united in prayer for divine direc- 
tion, with Rev. Mr. Brigham. 

After mature deliberation on the questions submitted to the council 
by the parties, there appeared no prospect of coming to a harmonious 
judgment. 

The questions involved matters of very grave importance, in some 



168 

cases affecting not only the ecclesiastical, but the civil, rights of one 
or more of the parties, the results of former couneils, and going back 
through the history of many years, Hence members of the council 
felt that they neither had, nor, under the circumstances, could obtain, 
the knowledge requisite to form a just decision. 'I'hey have preferred 
rather not to express a judgment in the case, where they were liable to 
judge wrong. 

The council therefore adopt the following as their result : 

Resolved, I. That this council can give no answer to the questions in 
the letters missive, which will aid the parties concerned in the restora- 
tion of harmony ; and they are therefore compelled to decline an an- 
swer to them. 

> Resolved, 2. That we hereby leave the pi'^rties concerned, upon the 
solemn and responsible duty of adjusting their difficulties in such 
way as their own judgment, and consciences, and the providence and 
grace of God, may point out; — convinced, as the council are, that no 
further aid is to be expected by this people in these difficulties from 
any council in which the general diversity of views and feeling which 
is common to men in such controverted subjects should prevail. 

The council therefore take their leave of the parties concerned, with 
the hope that mutual concessions will do for them what no human 
wisdom can effect. 

In coming to this result, the council would express the deepest inte- 
rest in this people and the Rev. Mr. Nott, and pray that the God of all 
grace and consolation will pour out his Holy Spirit upon them, inclin- 
ing their hearts to one another, and to united efforts in behalf of his 
bleeding cause in this place. 

Voted, That the above be adopted as the minutes and result of this 
council. 

R. S. Stores, Moderator, 

Erastus Maltby, Scribe. 

On hearing this result, Mr. Nott spoke as follows, namely : 

I heard out of doors that the sixteen brethren had been sustained by 
a vote of ten to nine, and I entered the house in the expectation of 
giving my six months' notice to the parish officers within an hour; 
and, thoucrh I say it with all affection to the people of Wareham, I 
felt relieved from a burden. But, according to this result, the burden 
is still upon me. Now, before these brethren leave us, I must be, and 
I will be, understood. If this be the result of council, then I am un- 
der no obligations to resign my charge, and shall act hereafter entirely 
upon my own independent sense of duty. 1 now ask this committee 
if they are authorized to give me the vote I have named as the result 
of this Qouncil. 

Mr. Putnam replied, .... I believe we can give Mr. Nott something 
that will satisfy him. 

Mr. Nott. I want nothing to satisfy me. T ask, Is there anything 
to govern me? If there is, I submit according to agreement. If not, 
I siiall use my freedom, and govern myself hereafter by my own con- 
victions of duty. The result was then left as above. 



t69 



PERIOD EIGHTH—FROM OCTOBER, 1845 



Pastor's Notice and Declaration, October 26, 1845. 

In order to test and settle our condition as church and pastor, I give 
the following notice and declaration : 

By the leave of Providence, the Lord's supper will be administered 
in this house next Lord's day. The preparatory service will be on 
Friday, at 2, P. M. 

This notice is given under the following explicit declaration, which 
will be taken as the guide for the future : 

1. Under the vote of March 1, 1844, and the subsequent action 
therefrom, and especially under the request of April 27, and the decla- 
ration of November 1, 1844, co-action and fellowship with the sixteen 
brethren necessarily ceased, according to my papers, beginning with 
April 28, 1844. 

2. On the reference to a mutual council, July 19, co-action and fel- 
lowship were restored. 

3. The result of council, September 25, 1845, leaves me in actual 
charge on the principles I have hitherto declared, and under the judg- 
ment that no further aid from councils is to be expected. 

At this point, in actual charge on principles explicitly and fully de- 
clared, if the brethren meet me in the word and ordinances, then 1 am 
bound to understand, and shall most gladly understand, that they ac- 
cept me in that charge, and on the principles in which I am left by 
council, and do withdraw the acts, request, and declaration which sepa- 
rated us before July 19, 1845. 

I do therefore announce the Lord's supper in course for next Sab- 
bath ; and if the deacon provide and the brethren unite with me in the 
ordinance, after this declaration, I shall administer on the understand- 
ing that the acts, request, and declaration, beginning with March I, 
1844, are withdrawn, and shall continue co-action and fellowship, un- 
less and until the brethren, or any of them, shall, by word or deed, 
signify their refusal of the basis here declared. 

Most earnestly do I desire that this overture may be accepted ; that 
past difficulties may have no need ever hereafter to be named, and that 
upon us all there may be the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of 
peace. 

October 31. 

At a meeting held at the meeting-house on Friday, October 31, un- 
der Mr. Nott's notice of last Sabbath, Mr. Nott being absent from 
sickness, — 

Voted, That a committtee be appointed to wait on the Rev. Mr. 
Nott, and say to him that the notice given Dea. Bumpus requires some 
action of the church, and that he be requested to send the church rec- 
ords by the committee, that they may proceed to such action as they 
may deem necessary. 



170 



Mr. Nott's Answer. 

Mr. Nott cannot proceed to any action with the church as including 
the sixteen brethren, except on the ground of his paper of last Sabbath, 
as it stands; and knows no meeting of the church as now in session, 
to which he can deliver the records. 

Subsequent Communication. 

Voterl, That the sacrament of the Lord's supper be suspended until 
we can have a church meeting to see if the mutual concessions recom- 
mended by the council of September 25, 1845, can be made 

A committee of six, of brethren not voting with the sixteen, March 
1, 1844, was chosen to request Rev. Mr. Nott to notify a regular 
church meeting, *' to meet in this house on Friday next, at two 
o'clock, P. M., to act on the mutual concessions aforesaid." 

Pastor^ s public Declaration, Sabbath, November 2, 1845. 

1. The overture of last Sabbath not having been accepted, it be- 
comes necessary for me to declare my pastoral position to be as before 
July 19. 

2. Henceforth it may be expected that I and the sixteen brethren 
will proceed under our separate claims, without confusion or interfer- 
ence, .... I on mi/ part having declined communion on their under- 
standing, and the^ on their part now declining communion on mi/ un- 
derstanding, it is by common consent agreed that there cannot be com- 
munion on contrary understandings of the relation in which we meet ; 
and we may be expected to remain hereafter in courteous separation. 

3. It is proper for me to say, in my position- as declared, that, with 
reference to the points before the late council, I have no concessions to 
make. 

4. With reference to a request for a regular church meeting, signed 
by a committee, — 

(I.) The pastor can take no action on the. request of a committee 
who do not designate the body by which they are appointed. 

(2.) So far as circumstances indicate the appointing body, it is one 
to which he allows no authority. 

(3.) Any regular church meeting, called by the pastor, must be on 
the principles declared and acted on before July 19. 

Wareham, November, 18, 1845. 

Rev. Samuel Noft, Jr. : Dear Sir, — In your communication to us 
under date of November 2, 1845, you say, — 

" The overture of last Sabbath not having been accepted, it becomes 
necessary for me to declare my pastoral position to be as before 
July 19." 

We find, upon looking over the papers, to ascertain what that posi- 
tion was, you had made us certain offers, by a paper dated July 3, and 
other offers July 17, in which papers you enumerate eight other offers, 



171 

made previously, which we had not understood as offers; nevertheless, 
as you call ihem offers to refer certain questions to a mutual council, 
we hereby accept them all, and are ready forthwith to call such coun- 
cil, leaving it to your option to recall the last council, or to select a 
new one. 

And we will further state that we now, as heretofore, offer you a 
general advisory council, who may he;ir every thing either party shall 
think proper to lay before them ; and after a full hearing, they may 
adjudge the whole case, from 1^28 to the present time; and as they 
advise, so both parties shall do. 

Respectfully yours, 

SiLVANus Bourne, for the Committee. 

Answer. 

Waieham, December 1, 1845, 

S. Bourne, E^q. : Dear Sir, — Various unavoidable claims on my 
time and strength, and the iniportance of being very exact in this an- 
swer to yours of November 18, have made the delay longer than! 
wished. I now answer as follows : 

1. My deliberate and careful declaration of October 26, of the terms 
on which we could proceed as pastor and church members, was in- 
tended to express the only terms possible, and at the same time to 
make the way of return as easy as possible, if the brethren desired to 
take their place under my ministry. 

2. When, instead of compliance with those terms, they proposed 
action in the church, with reference to a case to be settled, voted to 
suspend the Lord's supper until a church meeting could be had to see 
if mutual concessions could be made, and to request a regular church 
meeting for that purpose, it became necessary for me to declare my 
pastoral position to be as before July 19; that / had no concessions to 
make in the matters lately referred ; and that I could call no regular 
church meeting, except on the principles declared and acted on before 
July 19. 

3. In declaring my position to be as before July 19, when I agreed 
to a mutual council, I did not thereby agree to another. An offer to 
go to a mutual council is not an offer continued after that very council 
has been had. 

4. Those who stand upon the result of ex parte council, and their 
own papers preceding and following, had not before July 19 — much 
more have not now — any claim on me for a mutual council at all. Much 
more still have they not, after their declaration before the late council, 
on the supposition of their " confirming Mr. Nott as minister," that 
*' they cannot again acknowledge him as their pastor," thus withdraw- 
ing the main question submitted, and rendering further arbitration im- 
possible. 

5. There are no reasons whatever for any further councils be- 
tween us, and I hereby decline the proposals of your letter, and all 
further reference to council, with the sixteen brethren. The time has 
come for them to enforce or retract their measures; ancj if they do 
neither, for that " courteous separation " which 1 may then most rea- 



172 

sonably expect I decline, too, all further correspondence in the 

matter. The time spent hitherto in preparing papers, and meeting 
councils, I believe has been spent aright; but I see no reason for be- 
ing diverted any longer from the direct and all-important labors of a 
Christian pastor. 

(>. In thus closing our correspondence, I have a final appeal to make. 
.... The printed memorial^ &C., before the late council, has made 
it necessary for me to print the documents belonging to the case. 1 hope 
in a few days to present each of these brethren whh a copy; and I 
beseech them to compare their memorial and the documents Nos. 1 
and 2, before the council of 1840, with my documents, and with all my 
printed works, and my whole doctrine and character as they know them, 
and then to ask themselves if they are willing to live and to die by 
their own documents and doings, and against mine, and against me as a 
Christian man and a Christian minister? Whether they dare any 
longer maintain, before God and man, not only their unwarrantable 
position, but their unaccountable statements? .... Passing the papers 
of 1840, and omitting much in the memorial of 1845, I ask with all 
solemnity and with all kindness, flfare these brethren before this commu- 
nity — before the churches of southern Massachusetts — nay, before the 
Christian public, (where they have forced me to fstand,) and before 
God, maintain the unaccountable declarations of their printed memo- 
rial — o^ coming out against all revivals, in a discourse printed six years 
ago, and widely circulated among us, in which there is not one word 
against revivals, but which is an earnest appeal for an immediate, large 
and enduring revival, on the most evangelical principles : (see p. 12,) — 
of a six months^ notice in 1837, and of its being reconsidered on his very 
earnest appeal; when that notice bore on its face the proposal of con- 
tinued service, was always understood as never intended to end the 
relation, and was re-considered on the decided and manly refusal to 
retain the pastoral office on the tenure proposed : (see pp. 21-24,) — of 
a council, in calling which the applicants for dismission chose no part, 
when they were offered and accepted the choice of one half, without 
being bound to abide the issue : (see p. 43,) — that the church did not 
dismiss them, but Mr. Nott did, when the vote of the church referring 
the question, and the vote of the council deciding the question, did 
dismiss them loitho lit any further vote ; and when the pastor declared 
that to be his understanding, publicly, in answer to the question of the 
moderator. Dr. Robbins, when the result of council was read, February 
26, 1840; and when the report of the pastor, that he had issued cer- 
tificates, was received without objeciion, and when he believed and 
now believes that the dismission, though regretted, had the unani- 
mous assent of those who remained :— of a serious conflict for ortho- 
doxy, when the preaching of successive years lies before themselves 
and the public, in the most orthodox printed discourses: — nf a deliber- 
ate dismission of the pastor by the parish, March, 1842, in face of a 
deliberate provision for him " as pastor" for the whole year 1842, and 
of provision continued to the close of the year 1845 : (see pp. 58-75, 
and 162,) — of insisting upon a council of his own selection, when in 
express and written terms, he insisted only on selertin^r one half, and 
that half comprising three out of seven of the council they proposed 
to recall j and leaving them the privilege of choosing the remaining 



173 

four : (see p. 101,) — of requiring q, certificQte^ tits effect of which wa^ 
that they must ahvuys be satisfied with him, when the express terms 
were an acknowledgment that the votes of February and March, 1844, 
were not in accordance with the agreement of December 20, 1843, and 
that their claim, that tiiat agreement did not regard past grievances 
with the preaching and procedure of the pastor, was groundless; i. e,, 
when the certificate required nothing for XhQ future, but confined itself to 
i\\epast : (see p. 103,) — that the voteof Marcli 1, was after this require- 
ment of certificate when it is under date of March 17, and regards the 
vote of March I itself: (see p. 101,) — of preaching on a compromise, 
after the ex parte dismission, when all compromise was instantly, ut- 
terly, and publicly rejected, under the explicit declaration that the pas- 
toral office was continued solely on the ground of 18'29 : (see p. 1 16,) 
— of prelatic poiocr and oppressive and injurious acts, when no power 
had been exerted, save what belongs to the humblest individual in his 
appointed sphere and place, that of refusing to act in a false character, 
to deny himself, to be two opposite men at once, at the bidding of 
power more than prelatic, and under whatever oppression and injury : 
(see pp. 141 and 145,) — of ^greatly reduced number of hearers: — of 
total prostration: — of a parish of thirty persons incompetent to support, 
when the number of resident church members in J 844 (including the 
late Trinitarian) was equal to those of 1829,* notwithstanding hin- 
drances manifestly keeping back many promising candidates ; when 
the collections for the support of the ministry, for the last five years, 
have equalled those of any other five years since 1829 ; and when the 
actual attendance on public services, Sabbath after SabbAth, and year 
after year, has been large and full, exceeding any other in the 014 
Colony association, excepting one, and possibly two; — when the number 
of hearers is not greatly reduced : — and, lastly, of a Unitarian society 
just now organized, and of Mr. Nott's being left with it, by the last coun- 
cil, when none of the inhabitants ever heard of such an organization be- 
fore; when the meeting of March 9, 1844, supposed to be intended, was 
on the request of respectable and orthodox parishioners, including the 
deceased deacon, of unblemished orthodoxy and unblemished excelr 
lence, and when the call was in due form of law, for "the legal voters 
of the First Congregational parish" : (see p. lOi,).— the whole — as the 
part in 1838 — as unaccountable as if the minister were charged with 
being two feet shorter than he is seen to be in his daily loalks before the 
eyes of the people ! Dare these brethren any longer maintain these 
unaccountable declarations, and their unwarrantable proceedings there- 
on? Can such dreams bring forth any real good to themselves or the 
church and people? Can they prove any thing less than delusion, and 
ruin to those who shall proclaim and act upon them as realities? Is 
truth, is orthodoxy, is piety, is salvation, is the church, to be thus pro- 
moted ? Nay, more, if, from my youth up, I have sought to be a 
true and faithful minister of Christ, and have maintained the character 
of a true and faithful minister until my fifty-eighth year; and if, as the 
minister of Wareham, my faith has not been suffered to fail in the 
promiseof the Saviour, " Lo I am with you ^ways," — then I ask. Dare 
these brethren any longer attempt, on unaccountable assertions, and by 

* See p. %. 

23 



»/ 



174 

unwarrantable measures, to carry a point which may bring them under 
the warning of the Saviour, — " He that despiseth you despiseth me, and 
he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me ? "... . True, in the 
language of 1840, it is hard to go back ; it is hard to say, I have done 

wrong; .... but it is harder still to continue to do wrong If they 

have taken the wrong course, there can be no true prosperity but in 
leaving it They know that I have lived with them only in friend- 
ship. Let them receive the honest earnestness, and even severity, of 
this communication as the faithful wounds of a friend.* Praying that 
God may incline your hearts to what I believe is your only true and 
safe course, and awaiting the event, I remain, as when I first met you, 
Your true and faithful friend, 

Samuel Nott, Jr. 

To the People of Wareham. . 

In closing these documents, and looking forward to the future, I re- 
peat from my public communication of October 6, 1844 "No 

doubt our condition and circumstances are such, that human foresight 
is at fault. I frankly say^ I see no light : I am as much in the dark 
as you are. ' We see not our signs, neither is there any among us 
that knoweth how long.' But here the great principle meets us, — 
There are no circumstances so discouraging, there is no condition so 
hopeless, as to mar or destroy the asurance of grace and power • ex- 
ceedingly abundant above all that ice can ask or think,' the power and 
grace unfolded in all the wonders of the past, which every day and 
every night, every summer and every winter, declare to weak, ignorant 
sinful man." t 

When that grace and power shall be manifested, I pretend not to say. 
With faith and with fidelity as a Christian man and Christian minister, 
I desire to commit the future unto God. If my course be right, he 
will yet make it prosperous — as bright as it is right. There must be 
and there will be deliverance — a blessing on me and on this people 
whom 1 have earnestly and kindly endeavored to serve. May it soon 
be seen in the vigorous and large growth of righteousness and peace, 
in •' all things that are true, and honest, and just, and pure, and lovely, 
and of good report." 

Blind unbelief is sure to err, - 

And scan his work in vain : 
God is his own interpreter, 

And He will make it plain. 

December 5, 1845. 



p. 66. t Ps. Ixxiv. 9—17 j Eph. iii. 20. 



APPENDIX. 



[Reprinted from the copy laid before the Mutual Council, September 23, 1845.] 

A Memorial of the First Church in Wareham, to the Rev. Pastors 
and Brethren assembled in Ecclesiastical Council.* 

Reverend and Beloved : — The church of Christ in Wareham address you in 
grief and distress inexpressible ; their church order is disturbed, they are without 
Christian ordinances, and the cause of religion languishes and declines. We 
desire to lay before you a true and exact statement of the facts which have led to 
their present condition, and to exhibit to you what their condition is, so that you 
may perceive 'why it is that they call upon you to do for them what a Congrega- 
tional council can do in strict accordance with the Congregational Platform. 

We appeal to you that the Rev. Samuel Nott, junior, is not the pnstor of this 
church; that he has been dismissed from being their pastor, by a vote of the church 
and by an ecclesiastical council duly convoked accordinji to Congregational usage 
and the Ratio Disciplinae ; and that, by continuing to claim still to be our religious 
teacher, he is plunging the church into troubles of the most serious kind, and is 
destroying the cause of orthodox)' in this place ; and we not only claim that he is 
not om* pastor, but that, if he were so, his proceedings, in re-'pect to the church, are 
altogether unparalleled in the history of Congregationalism, and most oppressive 
and injurious to the church. 

We ask of the council a candid and careful attention to the facts which we shall 
state, and their unbiassed and best advice thereon. 

And first the procedure and preaching of Mr. Nott had been such that the num- 
ber of his hearers was greatly reduced, his religious services had become uninter- 
esting, a large portion of the church became disaffected, and the parishioners had 
fallen off, and many others did not pay their taxes, whereupon it became necessary 
to look back into the condition upon which he was settled among us in the work of 
the ministry. 

When (May 25th, 1829) the parish voted to concur with the church in giving a 
call to Mtv JSott to settle among us, they aUo ''voted that the condition under which 
the parish agree to settle Mr. Kott, are that Mr. Nott shall have the liberty of 
dissolving the contract by giving the paiish six vionths' notice, and the parish reserve 
the Liberty of dissolving the contract by giving Mr. JVott six months' notice.^' 

In the year 1837, the parish, finding itself thus embarrassed, gave him the notice, 
which they had reserved the liberty to give him, and the six months were nearly 
elapsed, when upon his earnest appeal, the vote of the paiish was reconsidered. t 
But March 7, 1842 — the parish again " Voted that the First Parish in Wareham 
give the Rev. Samuel Nott. jun. notice, that his connection with said parish be dis- 
solved at the end of six month.s froiri thi"! date, and after thai time he is to look to 
the subscribers who have or may sub>cribe to his support for future conipensaiion 
for parochial services." 

The parish then chose a committee whom he recognized as official and with 

♦ See p. 153. t See pp. 23, 24. 



176 

whom he corresponded, and both parties understood that the original contract was 
terminated, as his receipts will show,'' and a new offer proposed to him, "that he 
should receive what was subscribed and no more." — This he admits when he says, 
♦' It is accepted and that the avails of your subscription whether less or more must 
be recoved as my whole claim until 1 shall give you a six months' notice to the con- 
traryV He further says in his ieiter, *' I trust that, as on a former occasion, your 
parish will be able to resume its original contract. 1 have waited from the date of 
my letter for the information referred to, and at length came to suppose that it 
would be officially given on the full view of the case, which must, of course, come 
before your annual parish meeting. Receiving, how^ever, no communication there- 
from, my only resort was to the parish clerk. To my great surprise this applica- 
tion resulted in the information that no order was taken, or vote passed on the 
subject at all ; and that our relation stands as it was left by the vote of the parish, 
March 7th, and my letter July 29th, 1842. So that, what was atemporary consent, 
until the parish could give definite information, stands as the beginning of an 
indefinite and unlimited agreement. In this stale of tilings, inadvertently on the 
part of the parish as it may have occurred, I have no alternative, whether in view 
of my own necessities or the welfare of the parish, but to give the JVotice to the con- 
trary (named in the above extract.) and to request that a parish meeting may be 
called without delay for the following purposes, viz: To leceive a communication 
from the pastor in reference to the relation of pastor and parish in consequence of 
the vote, March 7th, 1842. To see whether the parish resume their original 
obligation, from Sept. 7ih, 1842, the date at which that obligation ceased." 

Thus he admitted his contract with the parish had ceased, and of course his only 
tie was with tlie church, this, April 20th, 1843, he intended to close in six months 
unle^fs the parish should renew their original contract; for he says, "of course, 
unless you see cause to check the operations of my letter to your committee on the 
20th of April, my obligation to serve you must end on the 20th of October." 

The parish met upon the aforesaid request of Mr. Nolt, May 1st, 1843, and con- 
sidered the matter with great deliberation till sun set — then adjourned the meeting 
a month, when they met again and after much discussion came to the conclusion 
that they would send him the subscription book and tell him that was all they could 
do for him. A committee went, and on their return, reported to the meeting that, 
*' they had offered the subscription and he had refused it, saying the original 
contract or nothing — where there is a will there is a way.'^ This report was fully 
d scussed, and without further action, the meeting was dissolved. 

These two meetings were well attended, and the whole subject was fully dis- 
cussed and the determination to let his notice run seemed to be fully understood by 
a large majority of the meetings.! 

At the annual meeting in 1843 the officers were chosen, but no officer was sworn 
— nor had the parish assessors been sworn, the year before. 

About this time, a party sprung op, the leaders of which had not before aided to 
support the minister, and who seemed determined to keep hirn, not that he might 
do good, but, that he, in their hands, might be made an instrument to do evil and 
aid them in their sinister motives — at least those who had done most in times past 
for the promotion of religious instruction, the friends of orthodoxy, at that time 
thought so, and in self-defence stood upon their legal rights, when July 31, 1843, 
these leaders induced the parish assessors who were not under oath, to call a meet- 
ing to renew the original contract. 

We went to the meeting, and when it was opened, S. Bourne arose and address- 
ed the moderator, saying in the hearing of the whole meeting, that he " protested 
against the legality of the meeting, and that all their acts would prove null and 
void — that he should not vote a< the meeting, and presumed those who thought as 
he did would not vote." One of these leaders, who was not a member of the par- 
ish, replied — " We did not come here to-day to talk but to act, aud I hope we shall 
proceed and do the business of the meeting," and then this vote was put, viz: 

" That the parish resume their original contract with the Rev. S. Nott, jr. except 
we give him $700 instead of $800 per year, provided he will accept the same." 

The meeting was composed of about thirty or forty- persons, many of whom 
were not legal voters, and about one third voted, among which were many who 
were not parishioners; and when the opposite vote was called no one voted, we 
choosing to rely upon our legal objection. 

About two months after, S. Bourne asked Mr, Nott, if he had not been informed 

♦ See p. 58. t See pp. 71—74. 



177 

that the last meeting of the Parish was wholly illegal, null and void; and he said 
no one had told him°of it ; said Bourne replied, then 1 feel it to be my duty to tell 
you that it was altogeilier illegal, and lis acts null and void." 

When in the spring of the year the church requested the parish to act in this 
matter, the oflicers replied that they had lost their legal existence and could not 
act. Whereupon, the church voted to concur with the parish in the vote of March 
7th, 1842, and with the notice of Mr. Nott of April 20th, 1843, and to unite with 
the several parties in callinur a council for his dismission. The offer of such a 
council was made by the church to Mr. Nott, who declined uniting with them to 
call one, and the assessors denied that they were legal officers and decliried acting. 
Whereupon the church called an ex parte council lor that purpose, who heard the 
parties at great length, and unanimously voted, that the pastoral relation between 
Mr. Nott and his church ought to cease, and that it was dissolved. The result and 
proceedings of that council are hereto annexed, and we pray that they may now 
be read. (See p. 113.) 

Thus Mr. Nott is no longer pastor of this church. This church have dismissed 
him, which by the Congregational platform they had a r;ght to do ; they have dis- 
missed him in the waij provided by the platform. 1'hey gave him the offer of a 
mutual council, and he refused to join in such council. 1 hey then convoked an 
ex parte council, according to the pjovisions of the platform, and that council have 
advised and armownced his dismi^^sion, and the church have concurred and dis- 
missed him. He is no longer our pastor, and we do not acknowledge him as such. 
He has since preached by reason of a compromise which was made for six months, 
(which time has expired,) which compromise has been broken, as will hereafter be 
mentioned. 

Here the church might stop; but a.s Mr. Nott claims still to have a legal connec- 
tion with the parish, and makes this claim in such a way as to operate as a great 
grievance to the church, we here annex the opinion of gentlemen learned in the 
law, to whom we submitted the foregoing facts, and which we pray may now be 
read. (See p. 189.) 

We hope the council are now satisfied that Mr. Nott is not only not their pastor, 
but that the connection between him and the parish is also fully dissolved. 

The church know that there is a body of people here, numbering about thirty 
persons, who call themselves the First Farish, and who pretend that they are wil- 
ling to support Mr. Nott, and to abide by the original contract with him. ' But that 
is an organized body with which this church have no fellowship in religious senti- 
ment, nor in their measures, nor do they acknowledge them to be the first parish 
in Wareham, and if the council should suppose them to be so, we declare that we 
donot and shall not act with them.i We do not believe that any of its members 
will say that that society can pay the stipulated salary to Mr. Nott. They have 
made an assessment and included the other parishioners in the tax, but they have 
not paid it, nor do we believe any person supposes they will ever pay. 

On the day of the dismission of Mr. JVott, {ihe council having made their pro- 
ceedings public,) Mr. Bourne was called on by twelve of the principal members of 
the Society friendly to Mr. Nott, and requested to make an offer. He told them if 
they were desirous of peace, he would make them a proposition which might recon- 
cile the whole matter, and they said, " say on.'' He said, '' we vv'ill invite Mr. Nott 
to occupy the desk and administer the sacred ordinances; the church v;ould attend 
meeting, and pay their proportion of the debt and expenses, if you will call a 
parish meeting as soon as practicable, and give him his six months' notice aarain, 
and dismiss him with such ceremony at the end of six months, as you and he^hall 
please — the money to be paid when he is dismissed." To tins proposition they 
unanimously agreed, and a meeting of the Society was immediately warned for the 
purpose. Mr. Bourne oave sati;^factory security for the money, and he and the asses- 
sors waited upon Mr. Nott and informed him of the arrangement; and all supposed 
every thing would be amicably settled in six months. But by some stratajjeni or 
accident the vote was awkwardly drawn, and voters getting a little re.ctless, would 
not alter it. Dea. Crocker proposed to amend it, so as to read " with the advice, 
&c.," instead of" if the mutual council so advised," but all patties said it meant he 
should go away at the end of six months; and he said to his church on the day the 
council was called. |he had not a doubt but he should be dismissed ;t the vote was in 
these words: " Whereas we regret the difficulty that exists in the church under 
the pastoral care of the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., feeling great reluctance in taking 

♦ See Protest, p.W5; also ^^ 156— 163. f See p. 101. % See p. 127. 



178 

any action in« dissolving a contract between him and the parish, at a time when 
seven eighths of the parish are actually in favor of retaining him as their pastor, 
if we could have the aid of those who have become dissatisfied with his preaching 
and procedure, but, under all circumstances, and in hopes of peace in the society, 
this parish have come to the conclusion lo pass the following vote : 

Therefore, voted, to give the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. notice, that his connection 
with this Parish be dissolved at the end of six months, if a mutual council so 
advise. 

By this vote, no doubt, a mutual council, to be called by the church and Mr. 
Nott, was contemplated, but no such council was called. Mr. Nott called a coun- 
cil of his own selection,* to which he had ihe assent of the few brethren in the 
church who were attached to him ; but he carefully excluded the action of the 
church in the matter, refusing to permit a large majority then present to vote at all 
on the occasion. When the council assembled, he made several very elaborate 
discourses before them, in justification of a number of proceedings and measures 
on his part, concerning which he supposed there had been dissatisfaction, and 
statements in respect to the conduct of the church, and especially nine of the 
brethren not parties to the council, which, in the opinion of the church, he ought 
not to have made, impeaching their conduct and motives (unjustly, as we think,) 
and on an occasion when he was not warranted so to do, either by ecclesiastical 
usages or by the laws of the land. They were not in a course of church dealing ; 
they had not submitted their case to the tribunal where he impeached them ; they 
were not there to answer ; and if, on such occasion, things are said injurious to 
character, the law is open for redress, and ecclesiastical tribunals, which are obliged 
to sit and hear, cannot but perceive that the law of Christian love is violated. The 
church w.ere present, and their grief on this occasion was very great ; they felt 
wounded in the house of their friends, '* and they perceived that the council were 
not aware of the peculiarity of their situation, and that they probably would un- 
willingly imbibe or receive a bias, if not an ill opinion of our brethren without 
considering the leading maxim of doing justice, ^^ audi alteram partem.'^ Our 
brethren, the council will now find, as we think, had committed no ecclesiastical 
offence, broken no agreement, but had throughout conducted properly and con- 
scientiously. The church could do no more than to hand in to that council a 
paper, informing them that they had had no opportunity to become a party to the 
council contemplated by the vote, and were not permitted to vote on the subject. 
The proceedings and result of that council, whatever they may have been, should 
have no weight whatever in the deliberations or result of the present council. The 
members of it are not at all responsible for their opinions or result which they then 
entertained, in view of ex parte statements ;* and those of them who are on the 
present council, are as free now to give the proper advice as they would have been 
if they had not heard those statements and come to that result, and the church 
expects to witness in them the same candor and impartiality as we should witness 
in them if the case were entirely new to them, A council, in accordance with the 
last mentioned vote, is now for the first time convened. That vote refers to a 
mutual council, which has not, till now, been convoked. We would farther say, 
that we consider that council called by Mr. Nott as an assembly of his brethren, 
called by him to give him advice upon his own statements which he wished to 
make to them, and not a council of any kind prescribed in the platform, and the 
result not at all binding upon the consciences of the church or others not parties 
to it. 

As soon as Mr, Nott obtained the result of his council, he gave notice that he 
should administer the sacrament to such as were in the acknowledgement of the 
pastor as settled in 1829. The church met, and Mr. Bourne informed Mr. Nott 
that as many as eighteen male members of the church as could make it convenient 
to attend the sacrament on the Sabbath, would do so with the understanding that 
Mr. Nott was the invited pastor and not the settled pastor of 1829. 

On the Sabbath they presented themselves as usual in their seats before the 
table, and Mr. Nott read what we call a 5c»ere)9a;j5>cr to them, and requested them 
to withdraw, with much warmth — however, feeling that they were sitting at their 
Lord's table, in their ^wn house, they held their peace and s,it still, while he re- 
jected their deacon and appointed a person to perform his duties, who passed by 
all the male brethren except the favored eight t The leading reason which he 
gave for this course, in a paper which he read to the church, as we were enabled to 

* See pp. 121—127. t See pp. 141—147. 



179 

understand it, was that instead of being dismissed from his pastoral charge by the 
proceedings of the council and the vote of the church, he thought those members 
who voted for his dismission had in fact dismissed themselves from him. 

This proceeding was kept up three communion seasons, when the death of Dea. 
Crocker brought out the following noiice : 

** In consequence of the lamented death of Deacon Crocker, the Lord's supper 
for July will be omitted." " It is needful further to give notice, that unless the 
reference to a mutual council, under which the pastor's declaration was made 
August 30th, 1844, ten months ago, be accepted, it will be indispensable soon to 
make the arrangement which will then be needful for the regular administration of 
ordinances and church affairs." 

Upon this notice a committee called upon Mr. Nott the next day, and asked him 
what he meant by " reference to a mutual council," and he said he offered us a 
council, August 30th, 1844. The committee told him they had received no offer; 
they had heard him read a paper at a meeting where they were told they had no 
right to be, and that he should not allow them to act or speak, but had supposed, if 
he intended to make them an offer, he would at least have furnished them with a 
copy ; but, passing that over, their present business was to inform him that they 
always stood ready to submit their affairs to a mutual council, and wished him to 
put upon a paper what he was willing to submit. This drew from him the paper 
referred to in the letter missive dated July 3d, 1845, upon which we are now 
assembled. Since the issuing of the letters missive, Mr. Nott has opened the 
communion to the whole church, and the deacon whom he rejected, as before 
mentioned, again distributed the elements. 

Upon these proceedings we make our appeal to the council : That tliis church is 
a Congregational church, and the rights and privileges secured by the Congrega- 
tional platform are considered by us as very sacred and are very dear and precious 
in our eyes. We complain that Mr. Nott in his proceedings, which we have now 
mentioned, has set this platform at nought, and deprived us of the most imporiant 
rights and privileges belonging to us as a Congregational church. 

In obedience to the commands of Christ, " we have subjected ourselves to the 
order and ordinances of the gospel, that we might have communion with one 
another to mutual edification, and have been constrained to the performance of 
such duties as do conduce to our mutual good, both in the inward and the outer 
man, and to maintain a holy communion in the worship of God and attendance 
upon his ordinances. Plat. C 4 and 27. 

By the platform, " the power of privilege belongs to the brotherhood, the execu- 
tive power only belongs to the pastor, and even this he derives from the brother- 
hood. Chap. 5. 

By the platform, the admission of members to full communion, and the removal 
of them from this communion, belongs to the body of the church— the brotherhood, 
and not to the pastor, who is to convoke the church, maintain order, dismiss thera 
when the business is ended, receive accusations and pronounce the will of the 
church touching the same ; atjd the power of judgment in matters of censure, and 
the power of liberty in matters of liberty remaineth with (he brotherhood, and the 
power of the elder doth not prejudice the power of privilege in the brotherhood. 
Chap. 10. 

The laws of the State passed in 1679, and v;hich have not been repealed, provide 
"that every church hath free liberty of admission, dismission, and expulsion of 
their officers and members upon due cause, with free exercise of the discipline and 
censures of Christ, according to the rules of the word. Anct. Chart, 101. 

By the same authority, it was "ordained and enacted that by the church is 
meant those in full communion only." Ibid, 104. 

By the Ratio Disciplinse, Sec. 55, the opinion expressed by a majority of the votes 
in the church is considered to be the opinion of the whole ; and all the members of 
a church have an equal right to express their opinions and vote, excepting females, 
who do neither, and the vote of a minister counts no more than that of a private 
person." 

The majority of the church in Wareham complain, that Mr. Nott has violated all 
these principles, and persists in his right so to do to members injull communion. 

He has denied the privilege of expressing their opinions and voting at the meet- 
ing of the church on important occasions, and indeed denied to them this privilege 
altogether.* He has disregarded the fundamental principle of CongregationaliBm 

♦ Se« pp. 13a-127. 



180 

by treating the members in full communion as members under censure or out of 
the church, taking upon himself the power and responsibility of putting them, if 
nut out oj the pale of the church, yet out of the privileges of the church, at his 
own free will and pleasure, more in the character of a Prelate than a Pastor.* 

A large majority of the church have been greatly aggrieved by these proceed- 
ings, and feel that they are under ecclesiastical domination, deprived of all the com- 
foits of the outward ordinances and all the privileges of ecclesiastical action ; that 
the platform on which they stood is taken Irom under their feet, and left them 
" between the heavens and the earth," neither in the church nor out of the church; 
not under censure or excision or accusation, yet treated like culprits who deserve 
to be cut off, by one, who, if he shall be adjudged their Pastor and justified in these 
proceedings, is likely to assume to himself the only remaining power which he has 
not assumed, the prelative power of excommunication. 

The council vvill consider whether they will stand by and see a Congregational 
Church in this affliction and oppression and not interpose. After diligent inquiries 
we have not learned that any minister who has borne the name of Congregational, 
in Massachusetts, has suffered himself to proceed, or been permitted to proceed to 
the extent to which Mr. Nott has proceeded. If he is to be justified, then the 
affliction, grief and prostration of the Wareham brethren, is but the beginning of 
sorrows ; prelative power will supercede the power and privileges of the churches, 
and an order or sect not yet known among us, will claim to be founded on the rock 
of the Pilgrims, which shall submit all the ecclesiastical rights and privileges of its 
members mto the hands of its pastor. 

We now propose to state the facts which relate to the ten JrciArew, who, Mr. Nott 
thinks, have not done right, but who, we think, have, in everything relating to his 
ministry, conducted conscientiously and propeily, and have been guilty of no 
ecclesiastical offence whatever; but contrary wise, have been cast into perplexity 
and distress which call for all the sympathy of all their brethren in the Lord. We 
mean concisely to state the whole story and all the facts with the most religious 
fidelity. 

We feel bound to say that the church were disappointed in Mr. Nott, and that 
soon after his settlement it became manifest that, however he might be useful in 
other places, he could not be useful in Wareham. He came highly recommended, 
and we were informed that we must take him without much trial or lose him. He 
was settled here before we were aware of his peculiarities. 

For two years, there seemed to be religious prosperity and we had hope of his 
usefulness. The Unitarians and Universalists had fallen out with the church about 
the meeting-house, and withdrew, and the cause of religion seemed to prosper — 
many began to inquire what they should do to be saved and many gave evidence 
of a true change. Some of the most active members of the church at that early 
day, said, "Mr. Nott appeared not to know how to manage a reformation; but 
thought he would soon learn ; " — but when intelligent new converts began to con- 
verse with him, they could gain no satisfaction concerning what they valued dearer 
than their lives, the neto birth; he gave tliem no light but seemed himself much 
confused ; and while they were rejoicing in a hope which the brethren thought 
well grounded, he said, "throw it away; no person could tell whether he had 
obtained religion or not, and it was of no consequence to know it." t This put the 
truly converted man into great confusion, and it put the awakened sinner back 
again into the world, where he has ever since stood, extolling Mr. Nott, because 
he don't believe in revivals, &c. Others saying they were now willing to support 
Mr. Nott, for he was no reformationist, and was opposed to four days' meetings. 

We do not say Mr. Nott intended to give these impressions, but we do say that 
he did give them, and we think he did not sufficiently labor to remove them. The 
consequence was, the Methodist and Baptist ministers were called in, and they 
gathered into their churches very many of the new converts; this gave our church 
serious alarm. We felt no disposition to oppose them, but it wasirying, to have 
our children and near friends leave our meeting because they could not understand 
our minister or get any satisfaction from his preaching or conversation. X 

Another consequence was the Unitarians and Universalists flocked to our meet- 
ing, and we found it easy to fill our meeting house and pay the minister, and this, 
for a time, seemed to quiet things, although the most thinking church members 
were severely tried. One deacon and several other standards forsook the meeting. 

A year or two after, there was another awakening in town, and our church met 

* See pp. 141—147. f §»« P- 8. .% Soe p. 66. 



181 

together and sent a cominiltee to Mr. Nott to request him to increase the number 
of his meetinors; his excuse for not doin^ so was his want of health- — they then 
asked him the privilege of calling in neighboring ministers, and lie answered, "this 
will undo what I have heen trying to doi'ox several years." Deacon Perry, hearing 
of the awakening in VVarehiim. came liere, returned, and sent Mr. Holmes of New 
Bedford, who went to see Mr. Nott and went home again, and the church stood 
amazed and discouraged. We have since learned from Mr. Nott, that Mr. Holmes 
told him that the stand he had taken against his church would occasion his dis- 
mission.* 

In 18.34, Mr. Nott preached what has been called his tnimpet sermon, and came 
out openly against all revivals, as we understand him,t but which he afterwards 
qualified to mean spurious revivals — but it would require more than ordinary intel- 
lect to discern where he would draw the dividing line. Otiier circumstances may 
show what his real sentiments were. 

Mr. Nott reduced the number of his meetings, and told a brother he did not like 
to have the brethren attend the East Wareham meetings, because it might prevent 
the people attending his own meeting on the Sabbath. 

He often used expressions in his preaching which we thought favored Armini- 
anism. The counsel of 1840 considered this as not sufficiently proved, although 
the church still think as they did before, and that he has since used similar expres- 
sions. His meetings were very much reduced in number, and the consequence 
was, it became hard work to raise money to pay his salary. 

In 1837 the parish became so much embarrassed that they voted tot give him the 
six months' notice, but his very 'earnest appeal induced the parish afewdays before 
the six months' notice expired, to reconsider the vote. 

Since 1837, we have had continued trouble in obtaining the minister's salary. 
In 1837 we were in debt $200 

" 1838 our tax was $800 and we fell in debt 100 

<* 1839 *' 500 " '' 200 

" 1840 « 800 " « 250 

"1841 '' 1,000 « " 300, 

In 1842, we found the parish debt increasing and more than $1,000 on the tax 
books unpaid, and no one dared to collect them ; and as a parish we then delibe- 
rately dismissed the minister as before mentioned. § 

In 1837, '8 and '9, the church and Mr. Nott had much controversy, and his 
opponents increased daily. January llth, 1S40, a church meeting was called at 
which he and his friends voted to have a council to try his doctrines, to see if he 
was Orthodox — his opponents insisted on a oeneral advisory council, to hear every 
thing, and advi.se all concerned. || Upon this question the vote stood 13 to 13; some 
did not vote. Mr Nott called upon a brother to vote, and his reply was, " I see 
we are a going to get into trouble, and 1 will not vote." Whereupon, Mr. Nott, as 
moderator, gave the casting vote in favor of his own views, that the council should 
be restricted to his Orthodoxy, and both parties to be bound by the result. To this 
vote his opponents would not agree ; (hey were now called the aggrieved. At the 
same meeting the church passed eleven resolutions admonishing the aggrieved of 
their error and threatening them with further severe censure. IT 

Feb. 2nd, 1840, the aggrieved members requested a church meeting for the pur- 
pose of dismissing them, that they might be organized into a church by themselves. 
At this meeting, further votes, tending to wound raiher than heal the feeling of the 
aggrieved members, were passed, and a council offered which should be binding to 
both parties. This they refused, and the church, by the casting vote of Mr. Nott, 
called an exparte council.** The following is the substance of the letter missive. 
1st. Whether the original grievance on record in the former doings of this church, 
viz; the preaching anfl procedure of the pastor, be a good and sufficient reason for 
dismissinir these members to be organized into a church by themselves. 

2nd. If the former question should be answered in the negative, then to decide 
whether it be expedient without good and sufficient reason for their original griev- 
ance, to dismiss them to be organized into a church by themselves. 

3d. If the council decide in favor of their request for either of the above reasons, 
— then to organize them accordingly, leaving the minutes of the council to be 
placed on the records of this church as consummating and authenticating their dis- 
mission and organization " 

The council met Feb. 25th, 1840: and although the aggrieved chose no part of 

* p. 81. t p. 12. J pp. 21-24. $ pp. 58, 156-163. jj pp. 25-38. IT p. 38. ** p. 40. 

24 



182 

the council, yet they appeared before it, and told their story, though poorly.* Mr. 
Nott went elaborately into his defence, and had several questions tried which no 
one asked, he accusinor and ihen defending, and insisting, since these questions had 
been tried, they should not be tried over again. 

Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, the aggrieved succeeded. It is true 
the council said the charges against Mr. Nott were not sufficiently proved, and that 
they should not set the aggrieved off and organize tiiem into a church by them- 
selves ; but they recommended that the church should do it if" they persisted in 
their request.! They did renew their request, and although the church did not dis- 
miss them, yet Mr. Nott did,X without the aid of the church (which seems to us 
assuming power contrary to Congregationalism,) and a council upon their call set 
them off in a church by themselves. They were twelve males and several females. 

Some of our church, friendly to the aggrieved, were absent, bat expected home, 
and others were making preparation to make an earnest api)eal to these brethren 
not to separate, and felt prepared to rescind some of the obnoxious resolutions, if 
they could prevail upon them to stay and enjoy or suffer an equal share of our 
privileges and burdens ; when to our surprise they were already dismissed without 
our knowledge or agency. This coarse of proceeding and the decision of the 
council, began to operate seriously upon the parish, and in 1841 a legal tax for 
^1,033 was assessed, and one third of it could not be collected without losing the 
parishioners, the most of which deficiency still stands agamst the delinquents, un- 
paid § 

It could not well be understood how a body of men unfit to belong to one church 
should be fif to constitute ar^other, and this other be in fellowship with all the 
churches. The effect was to destroy the influence of both churches, and in our 
opinion operated greatly against the cause of religion. Our minister appeared to 
be the only one at ease — he reduced his extra meetings to almost none|] — made few 
exchanges, and we had his extempore lessons often sis, but generally four weeksU 
upon one subject until his parishioners became dissatisfied and would not pay their 
taxes, and gave him notice of the dissolution of their connection with him as be- 
fore mentioned.** 

[t now became apparent, that we should have a serious conflict for Orthodoxy. 
Our minister forsook the houses of many of his old Orthodox friends, and frequent- 
ed those who had previously opposed his preaching, and paid nothing towards his 
salary. The church now began to think seriously of their danger. All agreed that 
the separation of the church in 1840 was a mistake, and it was pretty generally 
agreed that it was best for them to return. The members of the Trinitarian church 
(this was their name,) having seen the members of the old church, had a meeting 
and unanimously petitioned to return to the old church, and Mr. Nott and the 
church expressed pleasure at the overture. Their petition was presented at a regu- 
lar church meeting Sept. 8, 1843, and a motion was made that it be granted. But 
there was opposition ; Mr. Nott insisting that they ought to approve of hxs preach- 
ing and 'procedure or not enter the church. ft We had supposed that the church 
admitted members upon equal terms, or rejected them ; but Mr. Nott presented a 
different doctrine, and* we are sorry to say just half o^ his remaining church believ- 
ed it, and so the petition was rejected. 

Mr. Nott then offered seven resolutions as the basis and terms of reunion, which 
the church thought proper not to adopt, though v,7e find them on record — but the 
church did vote '• That the request of the Trinitarian Church be referred to a mu- 
tual council to examine the records of this church in reference to their dismission, 
and to make such inquiries of both churches and of the Pastor of this church as 
they should see proper, and if they should see good cause, dissolve the Trinitarian 
Church and incorporate its members with this bodj'." 

This vote the Trinitarian Church did not accept, and Oct. 20th, 1843, the church 
met, and it was moved to reconsider the vote of the last church meeting, referring 
the request of the Trinitarian Church to a mutual council to receive them on their 
being dissolved and recommended by such council as they might choose; this vote 
was lost 8 to 8, the Pastor casting the moderator's vote against it.|+ 

Nov. 24, 1843, the church again met, and the vote of Sept, 8th was reconsidered, 
and the following vote was passed : " That the request of the Trinitarian Church 
be referred to a mutual council to examine the whole matter according to their 
judgment, and if they see good cause, then to dissolve the Trinitarian Church and 
incorporate its members with this body." 

«p, 44. t PP- 43, 44. X pp. 47, 172. $ p. 22. W- II P- 95, (6.) IT p. IW. 

** p. 58-73, tt p. 75. XX P- 77-S3. 



183 

■ 

Dec. 20, 1843, the council met, and Mr. Nott brought all )jis records and docu- 
ments and began to read. He was called to order, and the reading was stopped on 
recurrinj;^ lo the letter [ii:s«ive, and the council then went into oral Icilimony. 
Among the questions asked were those : " Do you wish to leturn lo the church 
irrespective of Mr. Nott?" Ans. " We do." " Why ? Has anything been altered 
since you wished to go away .''" ,'ltis. " Some things are altered and others are not 
— the majority of the church which threatened our excommunication has altered — 
our views of JMr. Nott have not." 

After so:ne time spent in asking and answering questions, it was very apparent 
the council were inclined to unite the churches, when Mr. Nott said if they would 
put in a few lines which he read or wrote, he would consent, and the moderator 
asked S. Bourne, if he was willing.'' he replied, " The council can put in what 
they please, but Mr. Nott must put in nothing." Upon this reply the moderator 
wrote the following •■ '• That all past grievances are considered as settled, and all 
future grievances are to be issued according to covenant obligations." It was pass- 
ed around among all parties and explained, and the moderator asked Mr. Swift if 
he agreed to it, and he replied, " Certainly, for I have never had any grievance 
with the other church." Mr. Bigelow .«iaid he was afraid the article was not under- 
stood. The moderator who wrote the clause said there was something between the 
churches that ought to be considered a grievance — those votes of the church were 
unwise, indiscreet and uncalled for— and this was to be considered as settled, and 
with his explanation the debate ceased and the union took place.* 

We have the result of the council, and the whole may be read ; the only remain- 
ing material part of it is in these words: " Voted, that the members of the said 
Trinitarian Church be incoij)orated with the Congregational Church, possessing all 
the rights and privileges of the existing Congregational Church. "^ 

After the union of the two churches, the church held a Saturday evening prayer 
meeting, and it was fully attended, and there was much harn)ony and good leelmg 
mapifested. The next Saturday evening we met ogain, and the house was ciowd- 
ed,and there was much Interest manifested. — After meeting, a brother said, I think 
we should do well to have another meeting during the week. Another said T think 
it would be well to have a Wednesday evening meeting in the school house, that 
the public might attend — (our Saturday evening prayer meetings were understood 
to be for th'e church ) Another said, perhaps we had better have a church meeting 
first, and take no new measures unless the whole church sanction it, and this was 
immediately agreed upon, and S. Bourne was requested to hand in a notice (which 
he did) for a meeting of church members, and Mr. Nott asked him what he wanted 
a meeting for, and he told him to talk over our affairs generally, and he asked if we 
wanted him there, and Mr. Bourne (supposing he did not wish to attend,) aciswer- 
ed no. Neither he nor the other brethren had any objection to his being present at 
the meeting, and he was mistaken if he thought we wished him not to attend. At 
the meeting of the church members we were surprised to find but three of Mr. 
Nott's particular friends, which seemed to interfere with our original design of hav- 
ing the whole church together. We talked upon religious subjects till towards 
night, when we adjourned one week, hoping all would attend ; and agreed toinviie 
the absent members personally. As yet we knew no reason why they did not at- 
tend. At the adjourned meeting these three were absent, and all the rest of Mr. 
Nott's particular friends, except one male and one female. We were now much 
disappointed and began to suspect that a part had been advised to stay at home. 
We however spent the afterruion in such a manner that the particular friend of Mr. 
Nott said we had had a good meeting, and if we could have more such meetings he 
should come. We are sure that all was right at this meeting, but suspect an evil 
report was made to Mr. Nott. Some of the subjects which he says we discussed, 
none of us can recollect, but are prepared to deny. 

Before we adjourned, we voted unanimously to have a regular church meeting 
upon important business, (our object was to jjet all the male members together ) 
Mr. Bourne was directed lo hand Mr. Nott the notice —He did so, and Mr. Nott 
declined reading'^it, unless he would so alter it as to make public the business.! Mr. 
Bourne told him it was a vote of the church members, and therefore he had no 
right to alter it, and requested him again to read it as it was; but Mr. Nott did not 
read it. This excited some feeling in the brethren, and about a dozen met that 
evening who seemed displeased, and thought the minister had treated them un- 
kindly in not allowing them to meet in the capacity of a church. After much rea- 

* pp. 87, 88, 125, 126. t P- 89. 



* 184 

Boning, we agreed that Mr. Bourne should call upon Mr. Nott for an explanation, 
and so alter the notice as he should think proper ; he did so. and he altered it bj 
• striking out " important business" and substituting "to see what will promote the 
prosperity of the church." This notice he read the next Sabbath, and in connec- 
tion an extraordinanj paper half as long as a sermon, and exhibiting much excite- 
ment.* Mr. Bourne requested this paper might be referred to the church meeting, 
which he said should be done. — Several of us conversed, and could not understand 
the movement Mr. Nott seemed to be making; however, we agreed to go to the 
meeting and be careful not to vole on any doubtful questions; for some of us had 
learned that he had a wish to get the TrinitariauG out of the church again. Our 
Saturday evening meetings have never since been attended by Mr. Nott's particu- 
lar friends, although we have kept them up to the present time ; but there seems to 
be a strong influence exerted against them, for what reason we know not. 

Feb. 23, 1844, the church met, and a singular meeting; it was. The Pastor had 
pen, ink and paper, and wrote down what was said, as a lawyer takes evidence in 
court, and when Mr. Bourne tried to make some observations, the Pastor declared 
him out of order, and he took his seat. The Pastor now began to reprimand the 
Trinitarians for breaking their covenant, &c., when he put a question to Mr. Bourne 
(who was not one of the Trinitarians,) who told him that, having been declared 
out of order, he could not speak until excused; be excused him, and Mr. Bourne 
said that the agreement before the council had no reference to the pastor. That 
question has been tried at ti)ree church meetings before the council were called, 
and the Trinitarians would not unite with us under such an agreement, and the 
council explained the agreement which they made as applj'ing to the two churches- 
and not to the pastor. None of the Trinitarians spoke upon this subject, and said 
but little on any subject — they certainly said nothing against the pastor, Mr. 
Hamblin, a particular friend of the pastor's, said we had not touched the subject 
yet; " tlie question he should like to see tried was, who is for the pastor and who 
is against him .' And I make that as a motion." The pastor said it was a very 
proper question, but not in a proper form, and he would put it in writing for him — 
lie did write it, and Mr. Bourne went to the table and looketi at it — then went to 
'Mr. Hamblin and told liim it was in proper form, and if he would move it he (Mr. 
Bourne) would second it. Mr. Hamblin hesitated, and Mr. Bourne moved it, and 
Mr Hamblin or some one else of the old church, and not of the Trinitarians second- 
ed it, and then Mr. Nott said, " you have all got to anstoer yea or nay to this ques- 
tion' — and he had a list of names prepared for that purpose — a thing never before 
done in this churcii. 

The vote was to request the parish to give the pastor a six months' notice ; six- 
teen answered yea, and^icTz nay. Mr. Bodfish said he had not been called, and Mr. 
Nott told him he was no voter— he demanded his rioht to vote, but Mr. Nott refused 
to receive it. Mr. Bourne appealed — Mr. Nott refused to put the appeal, and Mr. 
Bourne requested the appeal and refusal to be entered upon the records, and. Mr. 
Nott said they should be. Mr. Bodfish was a member in full communion, and there 
was no censure or complaint against hitn before the church t 

The meeting was then adjourned to March 1st, 1844, at which meeting Mr. Nott 
read a protest against the nine brethren who had been of the Trinitarian church, 
and v)t'ho voted on the above occasion, which was pointed and severe-X In the mean 
time, the parish officers having been furnished with a copy of the last vote of the 
church, reported that they had lost their legal existence and could not act. Where- 
upon the church voted, " That this church concur with the vote of the first parish 
in Wareham, passed March 7th, 1842, and also with the notice which the pastor, 
Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., presented the Parish Committee, dated April 20, 1843, and 
that a committee of three persons be appointed to unite with the seveial parties in 
calling a council for the dismission of said pastor, and that they be authorized to 
call an ex parte council, if a mutual council be denied 

Voted, that brethren S Bourne, A. Barrows, and B. Fearing (neither of whom 
were of the Trinitarian Church) be the committee on the above vote; passed 16 to 
8, Mr. Bodfish being forbid voting as in the previous meeting. 

Thus have we given our testimony, which we think is " faithful and true," and 
it is now to be inquired whether there has been any ecclesiastical or other offence 
rightly chargeable upon (he nine brethren in that they voted " ?/ea" upon the ques- 
tion of Mr. Nott's dismission, when called upon by him to vote upon that question, 
regularly moved and seconded in the church, without their wish or agency. And 

* p. 89. f p. 97. X pp. 97—100. 



185 

we begin by saying — this is the very first instance we have known or heard of in 
which the exercise of acknowledged cluistian or ecclesiastical privileges has been 
charged as an offence. When these brethren '>vere united to this church by result 
of council and vole of the church, they were, by the act of union, incorporated into 
our church, and "to enjoy all the privileges which the other members enjoyed." 
We have before shown, from the platform and the law, that to the church belongs 
the power of calhng their pastors and dismissing them. — This is done by vole, and 
the right of voting belongs to all the members of the church in full communion. 
Jf to vole for the dismission of a pastor be an ecclesiastical offence, the pastors are 
safe and the church can nevtr dismiss them. 

But we understand that Mr. Nott relies upon tlie declaration in the result of 
council — "that all past grievances are considered as settled," as an agreement that 
the new members were not to vote for his dismission. 

This declaration proceeds both from the mouth of the old members and the new, 
and the whole sixteen are as much chargeable with the supposed offence as the 
nine — and if it is intended to include the pastor, it proceeds from his mouth also. 
There were grievances; very severe and miproper votes had been passed by the 
church against these brelhien when they were members in full communion, and 
when no complaint had been preferred against them, and this grievance was now 
settled. There was no pcrsortal. difficulty between them and Mr. Nott. They had 
been dissatisfied with his pre aching and procedure, but they had not proposed to 
leave the church until the church threatened their excommunication* — a sad act, and 
contrary to true church order, not authorized by any accusations, and disapproved 
of by the church, at the time of union. 

It is quite certain th:it this settlement of difficulties bad no reference to the mat- 
ter of their dissatisfaction with the preaching and procedure of Mr. Nott.t He had 
not altered— they knew he wa.s the same, and he knew it, and he could not suppose 
they had made an agreement to be satisfied with that which he knew they were 
dissatisfied with. 

It will be perceived by the facts we have stated that he wished they might so 
agree, but they refused to do so. The resolutions which were offered in the church 
upon their petition to unite, were intended so to bind them, but the church refused 
to pass them. These resolutions are on record in this manner : 

" Memo, of votes suggested to church Sept. 8, 1843, moved and seconded and on 
record, voted or provided for by a substitute." 

Before the council also, Mr. Roberts asked these brethren whether any thing was 
altered, tiiat they now wished to return ? they answered, *' Some things were alter- 
ed, and others not — the majority of the church that threatened their excommunica- 
tion had altered, but their views of Mr. INott's preaching had not altered." One 
of the council said he feared the article was not understood : the moderator replied, 
there was something between the churches which ought to be considered a griev- 
ance — the votes of the church were unwise, indiscreet, and uncalled for, and this 
was to be considered as settled, and upon this the debate ceased and the union took 
place. Mr. Nott v.'ished the church to put such a restriction upon the council, but 
the church rejected it, and when Mr. Nott protested that they had broken their 
agreement by voting for his dismission. Rev. Dr. Robbins, the moderator of the 
council, was written to, and he replied, "The council neither did nor said any- 
thing to my knowledcre witli regard to the preaching and procedure of Mr. Nott." 
(See his letters which will be produced.):]: 

Again, " Mr. Nott received the Trinitarian members as Christian brethren, and 
as subjects of his pastoral charge, but this pastoral relation gives no authority over 
a brother in any way of discipline, only with the concurrence of the brethren." 

" The Trinitarian members were received as individual Christian professors, mach 
the same as persons recommended from other churches." 

♦' I never conceived, and I presume it was the case with all the members of the 
council, that any pledges in regard to future action were given, on any part, than 
what belong to all Christian brethren." 

The pastors and delegates from four churches out of the seven, which comprised 
that council, agree to Dr. Robbins's explanation. A delegate from the fifth church 
when asked how he understood it, replied, " It was my intention, and I presume 
the rest of the council, to replace these members into the Congregational church, 
with all the rights and privileges which they enjoyed in the church before they 
left it." 

• p. 39, (3.) t PP- 125, 126. t P- 155. 



186 

If the clause in the result means all that Mr. Nott contends for, the nine brethren 
acted light in the circumstances under which they were placed. They and their 
friends sought a church meeting for the express purpose of becoming more active 
as a church in matters of religious practice, from the purest Christian motives and 
feeling ; by reason of the critical position in which they stood and the jealous eyes 
that were upon them, they ventured not to increase the number of their prayer 
meetings without consulting the whole church, and striving to secure unanimity 
of feeling and action* Their first surprise was that the pastor would not read 
their notice, without much persuasion. The pastor's particular friends were kept 
at home. 

Again and again the majority of the church were not allowed to have a church 
meeting;: and at last, when they were permitted to meet Feb. 23, they had agreed 
not to move or vote on any doubtful questions, and the talk at church meeting was 
between Mr. Nott and other members of the church — the Trinitarians being unu- 
sually reserved in speaking — the declaration that the agreement did not include the 
pastor was not made by them, but by Mr. Bourne, who was not one of them; — 
they did not move the question. A particular friend of Mr. Nott moved the ques- 
tion of dismission, and Mr. Nott said " it was a very proper question, but not in 
proper form, and he would put it in writing;" he did so, and when in writing, and 
moved and seconded without the aid or participation of these Trinitarians, Mr. 
Nott said with much energy, " you have got to answer yea or nay to this." If the 
motion was improper, or if it ought not to have been made, why did he say it was 
very proper, and write it for a friend ? If here was sin, who caused the sin to be 
committed ? Who promoted it? They were now " driven to t^ie wall." A motion 
is written, read and seconded loithout their loish or agency, and they are required by 
the pastor to answer yea or nay. It is clear and manifest as the day light, that they 
ought to have voted as they did vote, that is to say, according to their consciences. If 
they had no right so to vote,^they had no right to vote at oLL If this bo not so, the 
privilege is a mockery. If Mr. Nott believed that, by voting conscientiously, they 
might violate a covenant obligation, why did he compel them to vote ? Was it 
that he might protest against them afterwards for the purpose of taking away their 
right of voting ? Why did he not treat them as he did Mr. Bodfish, tell them they 
were no voters and he should not receive their votes ? What premeditation was here .? 
Time seems to have been taken to devise and plan — we will not say ensnare. A 
list of names prepared before hand, by which to call the yeas and nays, (a thing 
never before done in this church.) What shall be said when the council are in- 
formed that in a short hour afterwards Mr. jYott told one of the assessors he '■^ found 
them met together with an intention to talk and do nothing, but he had made them da 
something, and here it is," handing him a copy of the vote. 

This vote for the dismission of Mr. Kott hod other grounds beside old grievances. 
He had acted very strangely, to say the least. fJe had rejected the vote of their 
brother Bodfish, a member in full communion, free from censure and accusation, 
much to their gt'ief, and as they thought, and as we think, very unjustly and in 
violation of a privilege secured by the platform ;t and we see what this claim has 
since come to — he since rejects all their votes and the votes of seven others, because 
they voted for his dismission, and without any accusation in the church against 
them. J He had frowned upon their religious meetings, and had refused to call a 
church meeting, and consented at last with much importunity. The question was 
forced upon them by Mr. Nott himself, " Do you say yea or nay to this motion for 
my dismission V " Yea." If this was an offence then what does the uniting 
council say .? — *' All future grievances are to be issued according to Covenant obliga- 
tions." What are these .^ The discipline according to the law of Christ, is well 
known. Did he apply it .'* Contrary wise, he drew up a protest and signed it,§ and 
sent it all over town for signatures of male and female members of the church, de- 
claring that a great offence had been committed, and then read it before all the 
church with his commentaries. He afterwards preached against them severely, 
threatened to suspend the Sacrament on their account, and refused to submit the 
question to the uniting council, insisting upon a council of his own selection, some 
of whom we knew had already advised hiui what he should do.|| " Is this proceed- 
ing according to Covenant obligations .''" Far otherwise. We have reason to be- 
lieve that none of the church, except Mr. Nott, considered this vote given by the 
nine brethren as an offence. They answered them in conversation in a manner 
which showed they were willing to commune with them, and we think the whole 

'* p. 95, bottom. tp.97. J pp. 122— 127. $ pp. 97, 100, 123, (2.) || pp. 101, J72. 



187 

matter would have been settled among ourselves, but for Mr. Notts interference, 
reminding them of the protest which they had signed. The bretiiren went so far 
as to otfer to reconsider the vote ; but Mr. Nolt said this would not do; lie had 
other things against them, and they must sign a certificate, (the effect of wliith was 
that they nnist always be satisfied with him, or the council which he had selected 
must be called, and It must belaid before them.") When the church afterwards 
voted to concur with the parish in dismissing him and proposed a mutual council, 
they proposed to him to have the matter submitted to such council as might then 
be called ; this he also positively refused to consent to. He then called his ex parte 
council to try this very question, and that council assembled here in Wareham and 
heard all Mr. Nott had to say on the subject. Tlie brethren made no reply, but 
awaited the sentence. The result has not been made known. t Mr. Nolt has been 
silent on the subject of the proceedings of that council, and we believe they found 
nothiuij against the brethren. Here, it would seem, this matter should have ended. 

In view of these facts nothing can be propounded to the minds of the brethren 
of this church more preposterous and absurd than to charge the Trinitarian brethren 
with having committed an offence in their answer to Mr. JNolt's directions in the 
church to answer, yea or nay. He finds it necessary to go back and trace a design 
in this, both on their coming into the church, and in attending the meetings of the 
church. And questionless, to make this affair an offence, an evil design umst be 
proved ; but the design is icliolly disavowed by the brethren, upon their consciences, 
as Christians, and we are fearless of the result when we say — no such design exist- 
ed, and no such design can be proved. A jealous mind may think it sees signs of 
such a design in this or that act or vote. But we know of no act of theirs which 
a candid and intelligent mind would trace to such a design, and if any such are 
attempted to be proved, the explanation is at hand. Something more than suspi- 
cion is necessary, before we pass judgment and sentence of condemnation against 
a fellow Christian. 

Mr. Nott has been dismissed fiom his office of pastor of this church : who shall 
reinstate him ? Will this council inquire wiiether or not some of the brethren 
ought or not to have voted for his dismission ? And if they do, and think they 
ought not to have voted, what is to be done ? Will this council nullify the vote of 
the church or the result of their council which advised it, and say we have not dis- 
missed him .'' The majority is decisive, and he may be again dismissed to-morrow. 
How lonor shall this state of things continue to the destruction of Orthodox Church 
order in Wareham ? Will the council confirm Mr. Nott as a minister of the parish 
here, who have dissolved their connection with him, and leave him here witli a 
Unitarian Society just now| organized, and who will not themselves say they can 
support him without the aid of the church and her friends, and compel this church, 
who have dismissed him, to acknowledge him as their pastor .-' Are there any 
principles of wisdom or Congregationalism which point to this course.? How long 
is this controversy to continue.'' Shall the sword devour forever .-■ Is there any 
hope that Mr, Nott will convert the church to his views .' Far otherwise. The 
church may expire, but cannot again acknowledge him as their pastor.^ 

A considerable number of ecclesiastical councils have convened here. How 
many more shall convene.'' How long shall the neighboring churches be troubled 
with our troubles? If we are not altogether mistaken in the facts we have stated, 
(and we think we are mistaken in no material fact), if we have any right understand- 
ing of Congregational order, if religious peace and enjoyment be above all worldly 
value, and if the rights and privileges of private Christians are to be preserved and 
protected, — then it is most manifest that the time has fully come when the church 
of Wareham ought to be delivered from its long continued trials and distresses. 

What a picture of the condition of the Congregational church and people in this 
place do the following facts and statistics present I How much short oi total pros- 
tration is our condition i \\ 

Mr. Nott settled here in 1829, having 305 tax paying parishioners. Of this num- 
ber 153 have either deceased or removed from town, leaving 152 now here. Of 
this number, 38 were Mr. Nott's adherents, and 24 opponents. Now 26 adherents 
and 36 opponents, and 90 have left and joined the Methodists and Baptists, princi- 
pally because they were dissatisfied with Mr. Nott's "preaching and procedure. 

At the present time, there are 411 parishioners in town. The First Parish has 
but 92 of these who approve of Mr. Nott (and many of these refuse to pay), and 
37 open opponents (we speak of the old parish, the new organization never has had 

* pp. 102, 103. t P- 114. + po. 101, 102, 173. ^ p. 171. || pp. 61, 66, 173. 



188 

but 47 members, and about 15 of these have left). The other ^82 parishioners have 
left the parish entirely, and worship with the Methodists and Baptists* 

The objection to Mr. Nott has been more against his procedure than preaching ; 
that is, his management in seasons of revivals, he opposing them, and calling them 
spurious ; and mark the consequences. 

The Rev. Mr. Everett preached 25 years before there were any revivals, and re- 
ceived 56 to his church, or two and one-fourth per annum. In 1808, Mr. Everett 
changed his procedure, and preached 12 years, and received 109 to his church, or 
nine per annum. 

Rev. Mr. Hemmenway and his church followed Mr. Everett's last procedure, and 
preached 7 years, and received (jO to his church, or eight and one-half per annum. 

Rev. Mr. Nott followed, with his church, two and a half years, and received 38 
to his church, or 15 per annum. After two and a half years, he came out with 
his new procedure, and has since received 34 to his church, being two and a half 
per annum. 

Our youngest male member is about 45 years old, and we fear the church will 
soon become extinct. 

When Mr. Nott changed his procedure, and came out openly against revivals,! 
the young converts set up for themselves in a Methodist church, beginning with 
half a dozen, they now have 160 church members, in good and regular standing, 
who will compare with any church for exemplary conduct. We cannot keep our 
children and young friends from their meetings, nor from joining their church, 
without exercising greater authority than is customary for parents to exercise in 
similar circumstances^ 

There is also a Reformed Methodist society in town (formed since that period), 
of 30 members ; and also a Baptist society, having 30 church members. There are 
350 church members, male and female, in town. Mr. Nott has 130, the other 
churches 220. 

If we compare the males only, Mr. Nott has 34, the other churches 87. Of 
those, 21 signed the paper, which will be exhibited, in favor of Mr. Nott's dis- 
mission. 

Fourteen signed the protest of which we have spoken, of whom three subse- 
quently signed the other paper, in favor of his dismission. The protest was also 
signed by two members since deceased. Others are very aged, and do not attend 
meeting, and others decline acting in these troublesome times. 

Active church members who attend the church meetings on these occasions are 
sixteen against Mr. Nott, and seven for him. 

We beseech this council to consider what the tendency of this state of things is, 
and whether it be not exceedins,ly desirable that the ancient and prosperous church 
of Christ in Wareham should have something more than a name to live — some- 
thing more vian a sad remembrance of what she has been. There is now but a rem- 
nant ; and if the hand of ecclesiastical domination is continued to be held over this 
remnant, even this may he scattered. Death and the destroyer will leave us noth- 
ing. The neighbor churches can then only say, with the old prophet, " Alas, my 
brother ! " 

SILVANUS BOURNE, -) Committee of the First 
BENJAMIN FEARING, } Church of Christ in 
ABISHAI BARROWS, ^ Wareham. 

* i. e. more than double the number worship with the Methodists and Baptists than worship ia 
the Congregational meeting-house ! ! 

t PP- 12, 172. t pp. 65, 66. 



LEGAL OPINION 



[Reprinted from the copy laid before the Mutual Council, Sept. 23, 1845.] 

The undersigned, havino; as lawyers given their opinion that the pastoral con- 
nection between the Rev. Mr. Nott and the First Parish in VVareham, was dissolved 
by the vote of the parish March 7, 1842, and the expiration of six months there- 
after, without any reconsideration of the vote in the meantime, and being now 
called upon to give our reasons for our opinion, we give the following, which we 
deem conclusive : 

1. May 25, 1829, the parish voted that—" the conditions under which the parish 
agree to settle Mr. JVott, are that Mr. Nott shall have the liberty of dissolving the 
contract by giving the parish six months' notice, and the parish leserve the liberty 
oi dissolving the contract by giving Mr. Nott six months' notice." 

March 7, 1842, the parish, being regularly convened by virtue of a warrant fully 
authorising parochial action upon the suhject, voted — " The First Parish in Ware- 
ham give the Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr. notice that his connection ivith said Parish be 
dissolved at the end of six months from this date." t After which lime he was to 
look to those who might choose voluntarily to employ and pay him ; and it appears 
that Mr. Nott received notice of this vote. It seems to us that nothing can be more 
manifest than that a dissolution of the pastoral connection was contemplated by the 
agreement, and that the vote of the parish was passed in pursuance of that agree- 
ment. Ex vi termini, the very thing was done which was provided by the agree- 
ment to be done in order to dissolve the civil relation between them as pastor and 
people, t 

We have heard it intimated that the agreement and vote related to the salary 
only. Far otherwise. The parish agreed to settle Mr. Nott, and the contract of 
settlement was to be dissolved by six months' notice. When the notice should be 
given and the six months should elapse, the contract of settlement was to be dis- 
solved, and by the vote the connection was dissolved, in terms, the six months having 
elapsed. Thus all legal civil relations between them was at an end. 

There was an ecclesiastical relation still remaining, which has indeed a very 
slight hold upon the parish, being nothing but what the law of courtesy and con- 
gregational usage provide for the benefit of a pastor who leaves his people in order 
that his ministerial and Christian character may not be thereby injuriously affected. 
This is to be dissolved, at the election of the pastor, by uniting with the church and 
calling a mutual council, who are to pronounce upon his dismission, and give him 
such testimonials of his ministerial and Christian standing as shall appear to them to 
be advisable. This very laudable usage is wholly for the benefit of the pastor, and 
the church takes care that he shall not be deprived of this privilege when he may 
choose to exercise it. But it is a privilege and a personal benefit which he may 
waive and not exercise at all, or which he may suspend acting upon, as he may see 
fit. The parish have no reason to wish for an ecclesiastical council, in a case like 
this, when the contract of settlement is dissolved in pursuance of their express 
agreement with him, and if he does waive or suspend his request for a council, no 
law, human or divine, will allow a man to obtain an advantage from his own negli- 
gence or neglect. 

* Compare Protest p. 105-112, and the Summary pp. 156-163 and p. 166, 
t p. 58. X See p. 158 {"I.) 

25 



190 

It has been said that an act of the church, assenting to the vote of the parish, was 
necessary. Not so, in respect to this civil or legal connection. The parish and Mr. 
Nott had a lejjal right to make the contract of settlement, and to provide for its dis- 
solution, a-* they have done. But a parish cannot by law, make an agreement 
which shall bind itself or its members, at the option of any other person or body of 
men civil or ecclesiastical. Such a contract would be merely void. The action of 
the church was provided for, in order that the ecclesiastical connection might be 
dissolved, at the election of Mr, Nott, according to the usages of the Congregational 
churches. As Mr. Nott did not request the action of the church, he cannot now set 
np the rights of the church to prevent the legal operation of the vote which dis- 
solved his pastoral relation. 

We only a<ld that it appears by the papers shown us that Mr. Nott received of the 
parish, the full amount of his salary up to the seventh of September, 1842, when 
'the six months terminated, and wben his legal relation to the parish ceased.* 

If however a council and the assent of the church, at all affects the civil relation, 
such assent has been had and such a council been convoked, and they have pro- 
noimced upon his dismission, as will hereinafter be mentioned. 

II, Thus far we think the matter is clear and incontrovertible. But it has been 
suggested that, though the pastoral connection has been dissolved, yet the parish 
have renewed it. But it seems to us very clear, first, that they have not renewed 
it ; secondly, that they had not power to renew it without the consent of the 
church, and thirdly, that the action of the parish which is relied upon, is of no legal 
validity or force whatever. 

March 7, 1842, the parish voted that the connection should be dissolved in six 
months ; that time expired September 7, 1842. 

1. T'hus the contract or connection was dissolved, the six months having elapsed, 
without any further action of the parish, except communicating the vote to Mr. Nott, 
which was also done. The dissolution was no longer executory, but it was executed. 
The time had elapsed within which they might have reconsidered their vote, and 
prevented its operation ; but after that time, a reconsideration would have been of no 
avail, though in that case there was no reconsideration of the vote at all ; the vote to 
dissolve the connection is still in force and has not been rescinded. 

2. After September 7> 1842, there remained no power in the parish by which the 
dead, dissolved connection could be restored and brought to life. A connection dis- 
solved is annihilated ; is nothing. A new connection might be formed, but it must 
be formed in the manner agree(i upon between the church and parish February 18, 
1829; by which it is provided that the church are to select the candidate, and the 
church and parish, that is a majority of each, inust give the call to settle. This is a 
legal agreetnent, as held by the Supreme Judicial Court, being in full accordance 
with Congregational usage. But that a parish which calls a minister for a year or 
ten years only and then the contract of settlement to cease, should be holden by the 
contract after that lime till the chsirch should assent, is not law, nor is it Congrega- 
tionalism. No new pastoral connection could be entered into without the assent of 
both. The parish alone could not resume or renew the pastoral connection ; they 
could destroy it or dissolve it, as they have done, but without the assent of the 
church (hey could not renew it. 

It has been intimated that the parish nught renew the contract, though they could 
not the connection. But is there any thing in this distinction ? Mr. Nott is settled 
on condition that tlie parish may dissolve the contract by six months' notice. The 
vote is that the connection be dissolved in six months It is the contract of settle- 
ment, which is contemplated, and the dissolution of the connection put an end to 
the settlement. We think the vote rightly expounds the contract which includes 
both the pastoral relation and the pecuniary consideration. 

All this seems to us very clear, and after Mr. Nott had made an agreement of this 
kind with {he parish, and the notice is given, we think he is concluded, and cannot 
be allowed, but is estopped to set up that the contract continued till the church 
should concur. If he made an agreement which dispensed with the action of the 
church, the church may complain, but he is estopped, and his mouth is shut. As 
to the action of the church, and its eflfects, we reserve the consideration of this to 
the next point of view in which we have considered the subject. 

3. It is said the parish, July 31, 1843, voted to resume the contract with Mr. 
Nott under a salary less than the settlement salary. 

Supposing this vote to be the legal act of the parish (which we think it is not,) it 

* See p. 58 and 159. 



191 

cannot have the effect to resettle Mr. Nott, who had been unsettled, and his con- 
nection with the parish dissolved by the vote of March 7, 1842, and the lapse of six 
moriihs thereafter. For we have shown that tiiis would require the act of the 
church as well as the act of ihe parish. The act of the parish alone could not re- 
instate him as pastor. Undoubtedly a parish may bind itself to pay a salary or sum 
of money for ministerial labors without the assent of the church, and so far (if (his 
were a legal parish act,) it might bind the parish, but would not authorise Mr. Nott 
to claim the immunities of a minister settled over the church and parish of Ware- 
ham. But 

111. We do not think that the vote which is relied on is the legal act of the 
parish^ but are of the opinion that it is wholly invalid, merely void. 

The vote is (July 31, 1843,) that the parish resume their original contract with 
Rev. S. Nott, Jr , except they give him $700 instead of $800 

The circumstances under which this vote was passed are given at length in the 
statement of facts shown to us. It seems Mr. Nott was dissatisfied to stay in 
Wareham under temporary grants or subscriptions, and addressed the parish in a 
written communication of great length,* and that two parish meetings were, in con- 
sequence held in the summer of 1843, and well attended by the parishioners, which 
resulted in no action at all on the part of the parish. That afterwards the parish 
assessors, though chosen for two successive years, had not been qualified, nor had 
any tax been made or granted, and the parish clerk himself had not been qualified. 
These unqualified assessors issued a warrant for a parish meeting, and some 
parishioners assembled, and a regular protest was made at the meeting against the 
legality of it, but that a few persons, notwithstanding, voted for the measure here 
relied on, and far more did not vote at all because they knew the people were so 
assembled that they could not do any legal act as a parish. It also appears that 
Mr. Nott knew that the parishioners considered this vote as illegal and unwar- 
ranted. 

This vote was not followed up by any measures on the part of the parish, grant- 
ing or assessing money to fulfil or perform any contract with i»Jr. Nott, and subse- 
quently (February 29, 1844,) the assessors and clerk, conscious that they were not 
legal parish officers, applied to a justice of the peace to issue his warrant to organ- 
ize the parish by choosing parish officers, which was accordingly done ; they also 
having before, when applied to by the church, as parish officers, Februaiy 23, 
declined to act and wholly disclaiming to be qualified as such. 

Under these circumstances, we are of the opinion that the meeting of July 31, 
1843, (by which a vote was passed resuming the contract,) could not bind the 
parish or parishioners by that vote. For two years they had had no qualified asses- 
sors, and when a meeting assembled which they called, the legality of it was denied 
in open meeting, and the people, probably the most of them assembled, declined 
voting, and many who voted were not legal voters, and the clerk himself was not 
qualified to mike a valid record f 

It is said the assessors were officers de facto — i. e. were acting as assessors, and 
their acts may thus be valid as respects third persons. But clearly their acts are 
not valid or binding, when the parishioners appear at the meeting and call in ques- 
tion their authority, as was done in this case. , 

It is said they were formerly officer> — assessors — and so had a right to hold over 
till others were chosen. But there is a reasonable limitation to holding over, espe- 
cially when the same officers are re-elected. It is their drty, if they cnean to 
accept the choice, to be qualified forthwith, and it would encourage public officers 
to neglect this duty, to the public detriment, if they might, year after year, for an 
indefinite length of time, continue to occupy places of great trust without being 
under the solemn engagement provided by law in such cases. 

But we think this holding over provided by law, was intended for the public 
convenience, so that for the mere mischance of a year getting by before others 
should be chosen in their stead, the corporate body might not be without officers, 
and that the courts of law would not sanction an atteu)pt to hold over after the 
lapse of two public meetings in two successive years for the choice of officers, and 
in a case where officers are chosen, but neglect to qualify themselves. 

The statute contemplates that there may be neglect of the parish to choose officers, 
and of those who shall be chosen to qualify themselves, and that a re-oruanization 
may become necessary to any valid parochial action ; it therefore provides that the 
parishioners may apply to a justice of the peace, and obtain a warrant for that pur- 

* See p. 69. t See p, 160-162. 



192 >^ 

pose. In Jthis case, the officers chosen so considered it, and therefore declined to 
hold over — decHned to act for the parish when applied to by the church, and forth- 
with signed a petition to a justice to issue his warrant for organizing the parish by 
the choice of proper officers, which was done, and the officers were duly chosen 
and qualified in March, 1844. Thus both the officers and the parish, by their ac- 
tion, declared that, in 1843, when the objectionable meeting was held, they were 
toithout any parish officers qualified to call that meeting. 

There is still another view of the facts in this case which we deem conclusive, 
and on which we rely with satisfaction, because it is supported by ecclesiastical as 
well as civil proceedings. 

The vote of the parish dissolving their connection with Mr. Nott was March 7, 

1842. Mr. Nott replied that he would be content with the subscriptions till he 
should give notice to the contrary. He did give notice to the contrary, in express 
terms, and that he considered his contract must end October 20, 1843, " unless the 
parish should see cause to check the operations of his letter of April 20, 1843." 
No legal action of the parish took place to check the operation of that letter; and 
indeed the parish did no legal valid act till March, 1844, when they chose parish 
officers under a justice's warrant. Thus not only according to the terras of the set- 
tlement, the parish gave Mr. Nott notice of its dissolution in March, 1842, but 
Mr. Nott also g^ve the parish notice of its dissolution to take place in October 20, 

1843, also according to the terms of the contract.* 

The church, finding that not only the parish by their vote, but Mr. JVott, by his 
letter, had dissolved the pastoral relation, and put an end to the legal or civil con- 
nection between them, took measures, February 23, 1844, in a reasonable and 
proper tithe, to put an end also to the ecclesiastical connection. They concurred 
with the parish, and also with the pastor's notice, and offered them and him a 
mutual council, and when this was not accepted, they convoked an ex parte council 
for that purpose, which, in full accordance with what they thought expediency, a« 
well as duty, required, did dissolve all ecclesiastical connection between Mr. Nott 
and the First Church and Parish, in the town of Wareham, the council expressly 
finding that the contract for the support of the pastor had become void and unani- 
mously voting that the pastoral relation was dissolved. 

The undersigned are therefore fully of the opinion, that according to the agree- 
ment when i\ir. Nott was settled, the parish put an end to the whole contract of 
settlement in September 7, 1842, six months after their notice of March 7, 1842, 
and he was then no longer their minister, and that the vote of July 31, 1843, was 
not a legally authorized vote, and could not, if legal, resettle him ; that he himself 
put an end to the contract of settlement, (if the parish had not before put an end 
to it,) October 20, 1843, by his letter of April 20, and one subsequent to that time, 
and that when the church concurred in these proceedings, and convoked an eccle- 
siastical council, according to congregational order, and that council ratified these 
proceedings, and not only advised hut pronounced the dismission, the question is not 
now an open one whether he be or not noic the pastor of the church, and minister 
of the parish, in Wareham, but has been decided already by a competent tribunal, 
with all the requisite forms, both civil and ecclesiastical. 

ZECHARIAH EDDY, 
^pril 30, 1845. . TIMO. G. COFFIN. 



* See p. 159 (S) and 160 (a) and (&. 



Wareham, -April 2, 1846. 

The following brethren (of the sixteen) came /oj^ard in public 
meeting, and declared their readiness to acknowledge Mr. Nott as 
the regnlarly settled Pastor-as settled 1829~the decision of the 
ox parte Council of 1844 being considered as annihilated. 

^ (Signed) Silvanus Bourne, 

Abishat Barrows, 
Benj. Fearing, 

and nine others— four being absent on account of sickness and in- 

fitmitv. 



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